A Collection of Ranebow OneShots
by xxLadyLalaxx
Summary: All my one-shots based off CP Coulter's Reed van Kamp and Shane Anderson. Ranebow lovin!
1. Doped Up

**Doped Up**

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><p>It was Friday night, early evening in Westerville. The Anderson house was practically empty, save for one surprisingly calm Anderson.<p>

Shane had gotten out of school the day before for spring break. He had flown to Ohio to spend time with his brother and Reed before Dalton let out on Wednesday next week. The Windsors and Shane included were traveling to Italy for the week, hoping to get some relaxation in. Shane was also looking forward to hearing Reed speak in Italian, as he claimed he could – Italian would sound sexy…_no! Bad Shane! No inappropriate thoughts!_

Shane's phone rang in his pocket, singing Colbie Caillet's _Rainbow_. Shane grinned. He'd always thought of it as his and Reed's song after the scene in the Hall of Mirrors. It had fit the situation perfectly, and Wes and David had told the couple that their celebrity name would be "Rane". It was currently Shane's favorite song, though he liked the way Reed sang it better.

He clicked the green answer button and held the phone to his ear. "Hello love!"

"_Hiya Shane_!"

Shane frowned. Reed's voice was high-pitched and _very _giggly. "Reed, are you ok?"

"_I'm fantastic! Hee hee! Everything's all colorful!"_ Shane heard someone on the other end of the line. "_Excuse me, who is this_?" an older female voice asked.

"I'm Shane Anderson, I'm Reed's boyfriend. Why?" Shane's tone became urgent.

"_Mr. Anderson, were you aware that Reed was scheduled for an MRI today at Westerville Memorial_?"

Shane sat up cross-legged on the bed. "Yeah."

"_Well the doctor that was scheduled to do it was delayed in awful traffic. Something having to do with llamas and a runaway watermelon stand…" _The doctor trailed off awkwardly. "…_anyway, we weren't informed of this until fifteen minutes ago. We already gave Reed the medication he needs, but we won't be able to do it today. Could you please come by and pick him up so we can reschedule this_? _He's on the…laughing gas, as you can probably tell._"

"I'm already on my way." Shane replied, leaping up from the bed and grabbing his coat. He heard a giggle in the background. "_I told you he'd come rescue me. He's my hero!"_

"Yes, I certainly am." Shane chuckled as he swept out the door. "I'll be there soon."

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><p>Shane shoved open the door into the waiting room. He immediately spotted Reed. He was perched on one of chairs and humming, a dreamy smile on his face. "Why is there a caterpillar on your lip?" he asked the doctor standing beside him plaintively. The doctor rolled his eyes and smiled kindly, his mustache twitching. Shane fawned over the adorableness.<p>

Shane sauntered across the tiles. When Reed heard the footsteps he jumped up. "Shane!" he shrieked happily. As he began to cross the floor, he stopped and swayed. "Everything's all tipsy…" he mumbled, raising a hand to his forehead. Shane reached out and caught him just as he fell.

Reed giggled and wrapped his arms lovingly around Shane's neck. Shane grinned and helped Reed to his feet. "Mr. Anderson?" the doctor asked. Shane grinned and nodded.

While Shane rescheduled Reed's appointment, Reed sat on the counter beside him swinging his legs and chatting idly with the secretary. "We have a caterpillar that lives in our attic." He said smiling.

"Really?"

"Uh-huh. He works with electric gizmos and shocky stuff." Reed waved his hands for emphasis. He looked at the women very seriously. He put a hand up to the side of his mouth. "Sometimes, I think he spies on us."

The women chuckled. "On who?"

"Me, and my bestest best friends in the world!" Reed laughed. "We have a Hatter, and a Hare, and a short White Rabbit, and I share a room with Alice! And I'm the Dormouse!" he giggled.

The secretary laughed and shared a wink with Shane, who was trying very hard to concentrate on the doctor talking to him and not his charming boyfriend.

When they had finished filling out the forms Shane looked over at Reed. There was a look in his eyes that reminded Shane of Luna Lovegood wearing her Spectrespecs. He automatically knew that Reed was not going to do any straight walking for the rest of the day. He scooped up Reed easily. Reed laughed and kicked his legs. "Like the prince and princess in the Disney movies!" Shane laughed with him. "Yes…just like them."

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><p>Shane dialed Kurt during the ride back to the Anderson home. "Hey Alice!"<p>

"_What do you want Shane_?" Kurt's voice was grumpy.

Reed lunged for the phone. "I wanna talk to Alice!" he whined.

"Let me talk to him first Reed."

"Hmph. Okay…I thought Alice was a girl."

"_Shane, what the hell –"_

Shane grinned. "Reed's MRI got rescheduled…after they gave him the medication."

"_Ahh…"_

"Yeah, so I'm taking him back to my place to spend the night. So I can keep an eye on him."

"_Don't take advantage of him Shane."_

Shane sputtered. "I-I would not! I would NOT – d-do that to him!"

Kurt laughed. "_I know you wouldn't Shane. Just be careful_."

"Can I talk to Alice now?" Reed pushed his lower lip out like a puppy. "Sure Reed. Reed wants to talk to you. Keep him entertained." Shane tossed the phone back to Reed, who grabbed it like a piece of candy. "Hiya Alice…I'm great! Shane's taking _very _good care of me…did I what? Um, I think I saw a unicorn in the waiting room. I told the doctor, and he asked me what color it was…I…I think it was rainbow colored! I asked the doctor if I could go ride it, to see if it would take me to like, the end of the rainbow, but he said no...well, I thought there would be gold, and maybe a leprechaun! Do you think he'd have given us Lucky Charms?"

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><p>Shane carried Reed up to his bed, shoved off the books and papers and settled Reed under the covers. "Do you want to get some sleep Reed?" Shane asked, sitting beside him and ruffling the curls.<p>

Reed smiled brightly. "Nope! I'm hungry, actually." He furrowed his brow.

"You like ramen noodles?"

Reed cocked his head to the side. "Do I like what?"

"Ramen noodles."

"I've never tried them before…are they magical?"

Shane grinned. "Nope, but they're good. Do you want some for dinner?"

"Okay! Do I have to wait up here?"

"Yes love. I don't want you on the stairs. Do you want to watch a movie while I make them?"

Reed nodded, bouncing on the bed. "Yes please! Can we watch the one about the princess with the long hair, and the chameleon, and the horse…?"

"_Tangled_? Sure." Shane inserted the movie into the DVD player. When the opening credits began, he gave Reed a kiss on the cheek and loped downstairs. He heated up the water and plopped the noodles in. He added the flavoring, grabbed a couple of spoons and went back upstairs.

Reed was cuddled in bed, watching the movie with an adorable smile. Shane gave him his bowl. "Try not to spill. Don't eat it yet, it's still hot." Reed nodded obediently and continued to watch. Shane changed into his pajamas and crawled in bed next to him.

Reed immediately snuggled against his chest and sighed. "I love you soooooo much Shane." He nuzzled his nose against him. "So, so much."

Shane rolled his eyes good-naturedly and ruffled Reed's curls. "Love you too Reed."

Near the end of the movie, Reed's eyes were losing their battle with gravity. Shane smiled and pulled Reed closer, humming a tune to help him drift off. Reed yawned loudly, reminding Shane of a puppy.

"Shane, will you marry me when we get older? Please?" Reed brought out the power of his eyes.

Shane smiled. He wondered if Reed had actually thought about that. "I will if you want to when we're older."

Reed turned his head curiously. "Of course I'll want to, silly!" He giggled and wrapped his arms around Shane's middle. "I love you, and I'll love you forever and ever and ever…" Reed trailed off. "…and ever…" his voice finally faded as his head fell into Shane's lap and fell asleep.

Shane smiled and brushed his curls. "And I'll love you forever and ever and ever."

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><p><strong>AN: This was a little something I saw on an RP tumblr. Reed took some medication and got dizzy. It was short and adorable. I imagined a doped-up Reed as Brittany and it was a piece of cake.<strong>

**Yeah I know. Where's the second part to Gunfire? I'm getting there. It's been a busy week, and I'm a little scatterbrained. I have multiple story projects in the works (multi chapters & one-shots) and I can't seem to focus on just one. **

**I might move my other one-shots here (_Coming Out, Our Life Now, Another New Year's, and What He Wants) _So if you look for them, they'll probably be here. I'll put a note in my profile too.  
><strong>

**I don't own Tangled; Disney does.**

**Love Lala, xoxo**


	2. Pretty

**AN: This was another tumblr thing I saw. Shane commented on Julian being pretty, and Reed got worried. I just angstified it :) Majorly**

**I do not wish to offend anyone who has or has had an eating disorder. Please forgive me if I have.**

**Disclaimer:**

**"Glee" belongs to Ryan Murphy**

**"Dalton" belongs to CP Coulter**

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><p>Kurt smiled as he and Blaine stopped in front of his room. He sighed. "That was a great date." he laughed. Blaine squeezed his hand. "Glad you enjoyed it." He smiled widely and leaned forward, kissing Kurt. Kurt hummed happily into it and wrapped his arms around Blaine.<p>

This went on for a couple minutes until the Tweedles raced around the corner.

"Alice!" Ethan panted.

"We have an emergency!" Evan added.

Kurt shook his head. "No boys, I am _not _going to make you another two dozen cream pies. Last time I did, they ended up crushed in the beds of the Stuarts."

"Worse situation." Ethan shook his head.

"Dormouse came back from his outing with Shane, looking very upset."

"He's in there now. Go talk to him."

Kurt blanched. Then he shook his head sadly. "Fine, I'll deal with this." The twins frowned and walked away nervously. Blaine kissed Kurt and cheek and whispered, "Good luck."

Kurt nodded. "Thanks." Blaine walked back to his own room and shut the door. Kurt prepared himself, ready to either comfort or lash out at whatever Reed had to say when he heard an ominous noise in the room.

It sounded as though someone was choking. _Great_, Kurt thought before pushing open the door and entering the room. The sight that met him was shocking.

Reed didn't notice him. He was hunched feebly in front of the toilet. His fingers, from what Kurt saw, were just coming out of his mouth, followed by a round of vomiting.

"_Reed!"_

Reed jumped back startled. His face sparkled with fresh tears, and a sob was already welling up in his throat. His rear hit the bathroom floor ungracefully, and he tumbled back. He scrambled back up and backed away til he hit the bath, knees curling up to his chest. He buried his face in his arms and began to cry.

Kurt stood, still shocked. What in the world had happened that had made Reed like this. _Dear Dior, wait til I get ahold of Shane_. Finally he sighed and walked forward. He sat down beside Reed, putting an arm around him. Reed eyed him warily. "I-is that jacket f-from last season?" Kurt nodded slowly. At this Reed wailed and buried his face in the jacket, smearing tears, snot, and possibly vomit on it. Kurt understood. Reed had to make sure that the ruining of this jacket would not be a huge waste before he let it out. Kurt smoothed his spine comfortingly.

This went on for a good ten minutes before Reed pulled away. "Thanks." he mumbled, wiping his eyes with the heel of his hand.

"Reed van Kamp. Would you care to explain to me_ why you were just forcing yourself to throw up_?" Kurt's tone was calm but somewhat menacing and Reed flinched. He buried himself closer into Kurt, so far that Kurt could barely hear what he was saying.

"W-when Shane and I went out, it…it went great! We got dinner, we just got ice cream, and we were walking down…t-through the strip mall, a-and Julian was there – "

"Julian? What's he got to do with it?" Kurt's brow furrowed in confusion.

"W-well, S-Shane saw him, and he said that he was pretty. A-and I asked what he meant, and he just shrugged and said th-that he's pretty and changed the topic."

"…and what did you do after that?"

"…I threw away my ice cream."

Kurt groaned, his head hitting the porcelain. "Reed…you mean to say that you were doing this because you think Shane thinks that you're not pretty."

Reed nodded. Kurt sighed. "Reed, Shane can be really dumb sometimes. He cares a _lot _about you Reed, don't doubt that. It was probably just a passing comment, and he didn't realize that he'd upset you this much."

Reed shook as another sob took over. "B-but…I w-want to be pretty too."

"Reed, you're beautiful. Hasn't anyone told you that before?" Reed shook his head. Kurt closed his eyes. _I pity Shane._

"C'mon," he said gently, helping Reed to his feet. "Let's get you to bed."

When Reed was tucked away in bed, Kurt went out to the hall and dialed Shane's number.

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><p>Over in the Anderson household, Shane was in bed already. Not that he was asleep. He was too busy replaying his evening with Reed. They had gotten dinner (Shane had paid, <em>of course<em>) they had gotten ice cream, simply wandering and spending time with Reed. Was it a date? It could've been. He and Reed had held hands during a portion of the time. Reed had been unusually quiet near the end though…

At that moment, his phone rang out. Shane groaned and his hand groped out for his phone on the nightstand. When he found it, he flipped it open and answered blearily, "Hello?"

"_-!"_

Shane yanked the phone away from his ear and listened at a safer distance. It was 11:30 at night. What in the world had he done to make Kurt this angry? In the background, he could hear Blaine trying to coax the phone away, finally succeeding when he heard, "_Just calm down and tell me what you want to say_. _Shane? You awake_?"

"I'm awake alright." Shane mumbled, rubbing his eyes. "What's the matter?"

"_Let me talk, I'm calm." _Kurt came over the line. His tone was irritated, with mocking interest. "_So, Shane, Reed mentioned that you saw a certain Julian Larson tonight, am I correct?_

"…yeah." Shane murmured, not quite sure where this conversation was going.

"_And you made a comment about how said actor was, and I quote, 'pretty'?"_

Shane sat up, switching on the bedside lamp. "Yeah."

"_Well, I thought I'd let you know that because of that comment, when I came home from my date, I found Reed forcing himself to throw up in the bathroom because he believes he's not pretty enough for you."_

Shane gaped, not realizing that Kurt couldn't see him over the phone. "…what?" How could Reed not think he was pretty – no, not pretty – _beautiful_? Reed was a hell of a lot more beautiful than that stuck-up actor. He was talented, and kind, and so goddamn beautiful…what had he done? Shane mentally slapped himself. How could he have been so stupid! That was not the kind of thing that you said on a date!

"_Yes, you heard me. Now I know that you care about Reed, so I suggest you get your ass over here and make him stop."_

Shane nodded obediently, getting out of bed. "I'm on my way."

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><p>Reed was sitting at the vanity mirror that Kurt had brought from his home in Lima, staring bitterly at himself in the mirror. He had stopped throwing up – his throat was kind of sore now, and he'd thrown up everything up to the appetizers that he and Shane had eaten – but he couldn't sleep.<p>

_Aren't I good enough? _He asked himself.

_No. Apparently you're not._

_But...I thought he cared…._

_That was just you, hoping that you'd get a chance. Tsk, guess you didn't have one in the first place._

_But…we've spent all that time together. Surely, he'd –_

_Just shut up! You're not as pretty as Julian, not as pretty as Shane wants you to be! You'll never be! Even if you two end up together, that will always be there in him: how you're. Not. __**Pretty**_**.**

Reed burst out crying, burying his face in hands, his shoulders quaking. Amidst his crying fit, he didn't hear the door creak open and close quietly. When he finally raised his head, a surprising sight met him in the mirror.

Shane was standing at the door, curls askew, a windbreaker thrown hastily over a baggy gray t-shirt. He was wearing flannel pants and a pair of black sandals. His eyes were wide when he saw Reed, sitting so brokenly in front of him. How could he have broken the heart of this angel in front of him?

Reed stared for a moment, then dropped his head again. "What?" he asked, hurt staining his voice.

Shane walked towards him. "Reed…I – "

"You've already said how I'm not pretty enough." Reed didn't know where these words were coming from. A tiny inner voice screamed that he could lose one of the greatest people in his life until the voice in his head said _I want him to be with someone he's satisfied with. Not me_. "Might as well continue the list of everything else that I'm not."

Shane dropped to his knees, placing his hands on the stool. Tears were beginning to slide down his cheeks. "Reed, I never meant for that to hurt you like this! Listen to –"

"I have listened to you, and look where it's gotten me."

Shane choked on a sob. "No! Listen! Sure, Julian was pretty, but I don't care about him! Hell, I don't even know him! A pretty thing is nothing if it doesn't have a story to tell! And you know what Reed? You say you're not pretty, and you're right, you're not – !"

Reed wailed and pushed away from Shane, walking across the room towards the door. Shane caught his shoulders and spun him around, forcing him to look Shane in the eye.

"You're not pretty, because you're _beautiful! _Reed, you are the most beautiful person I've ever met in my entire life! You're talented, and sweet, and kind, and I love it when you blush, and I freaking love you, and - !"

Shane stopped, realizing what he'd just said. _Well done Anderson._ Now Reed was going to freak out even more. He dropped his head, face burning.

Reed was rooted to the spot, only hearing those three words that Shane had just said. _I love you…you're beautiful…talented, sweet, kind…__**I love you**_.

Slowly Reed raised his head, taking in the mop of curls that faced him since Shane's head was lowered. He reached down with a couple of fingers and raised Shane's chin. Shane slowly met Reed's eyes, and was beyond shocked to find Reed smiling.

"D-do you…r-really mean all of that?" Reed's voice was shaky, fragile, scared.

Shane nodded. "Every word." he said truthfully.

Reed choked on a laugh, and then lunged forward and hugged Shane tightly. Shane wrapped his arms around Reed's shaking form and pulled him close. They tumbled to the floor, Reed in Shane's lap.

For a few minutes they simply sat there, hugging and sharing warmth. "You…you don't mind?" Shane asked shakily.

Reed smiled. "What?"

Shane pursed his lips. "That I said that I love you, cuz I know that you're still figuring things out and I'm too much, and I'm babbling again and…I'll just shut up."

Reed smiled again and reached up to brush a curl of out Shane's eye. Shane's breath caught in his throat. Reed fingers laced through his curls in the back and he slowly brought Shane's head down, closing his eyes as he did so. Shane's eyelids slipped shut and he pressed his lips to Reed's silently. Reed smiled into the kiss. Shane's lips were a little chapped, but tasted good nonetheless. Perfect.

They pulled away, Shane looking completely dumbstruck, and Reed looking simply happy. "Shane, I love you too."

Shane grinned. "Really?"

Reed nodded. "Yeah…and, I thought…when you said Julian was pretty, that you thought I wasn't pretty, and…"

Shane ran a hand through Reed's silken curls. "I've always thought you were beautiful. From the moment I first met you. Don't doubt that."

Reed nodded, slowly but surely.

Shane helped him to his fee, brushing his cheek in the processt. "Now," he said firmly, "I think we need to get you something to eat."

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><p><strong>AN: See you guys later!<strong>

**Love Lala, xoxo**


	3. Payback

**Disclaimer:**

**"Glee" belongs to Ryan Murphy**

**"Dalton" belongs to CP Coulter**

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><p>Since the day of Shane's transfer to Dalton, and he had welcomed himself into Blaine's room by dumping all of Blaine's hairgel into his shoes, there had been an ongoing prank battle between the Anderson brothers. It had involved chickens, water balloons, a lamp, two packages of condoms, a llama, confetti, darts, a rotten mango, the twin's Nerf swords, and numerous random items that Charlie had banned from the house after their use.<p>

Currently Blaine was on a date with Kurt, which was supposed to last, according the schedule that Blaine had made, five hours long. Two of those hours were up. And Shane still hadn't come up with an idea to rival Blaine's last prank – where he had hung all of Shane's dance shoes from the telephone wires. He was sitting on his own bed looking at Blaine's, trying to scheme.

Reed entered the room, smiling when he saw Shane's furrowed face. He stumbled over and sat down next to him, resting his head on Shane's shoulder. "Still plotting?" he asked.

Shane nodded, sighing and putting his arm around Reed. "Yeah. I can't think of anything!" He let out a frustrated groan and fell back on his bed.

Reed bit his lip. He had an idea.

He looked at Shane. They'd been dating for a year and a few months now. They were completely comfortable with each other. Reed shouldn't be that nervous. But he was. Should he do this?

He lay down beside Shane. "Um…I have an idea…" he murmured.

Shane looked at Reed and grinned. "Let's hear it."

Reed pursed his lips. "Um…we could…uh, do..."

Shane turned on to his stomach, propping his head on his chin. "Yeah, we could do what?"

Reed decided to let it all out. "_We could have sex in his bed!_" He panted, face burning at his proposition.

Shane's mind had gone blank. Sex with Reed. He wasn't even thinking about the getting-Blaine-back part of it. _Sex with Reed_…

He swallowed, looking down at Reed. "…really?"

Reed nodded.

Shane lay down beside him again. "Are you sure about this Reed?" He reached out to cup his cheek. "You wanna do this?"

Reed nodded slowly. Shane smiled, and then leaned in for a sweet kiss. "Well, um…when do you wanna…?" They only had three hours left.

Reed looked over at the bed. "…erm, gimme 30 minutes?"

Shane nodded. "Okay."

"Right."

"…right."

"So…"

"See you in 30 minutes?"

"Yeah."

"Yeah okay."

Reed gave a final nod and walked quickly out of the room. Shane sat there gaping for a moment, before jumping into action.

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><p>Reed stood in front of the mirror in Kurt's room, observing his attire. He had no idea what would look sexy. All his life, he'd focused on simply looking fashionable, but never sexy.<p>

He pursed his lips. He was wearing a tight pair of black boxer-briefs, with a loose but thin maroon wife-beater. He swallowed. He hadn't even thought about the physical part of his relationship with Shane until about a month ago – when Blaine had littered Shane's bed with condoms. He sighed and put his head into his hands.

His phone rang with a text. He scooped it up off his dresser and read it.

**Pack an overnight bag. We'll have to get out of here so Blaine won't murder us. We can stay in a hotel tonight…and we'll probably have to stay for the next week or so.**

**-Shane xx**

Reed snickered and texted back. **Okay**.

He pulled a suitcase out of his closet and began to pack.

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><p>Shane had just zipped up his bag when there was a knock on the door. He swallowed. <em>Here we go<em>.

He opened the door and Reed slipped inside. Shane gaped at his clothes. His underwear was _really _tight. He blinked a couple times and then managed, "Hey." _Smooth Anderson_.

Reed nodded. "Hey."

They stood there awkwardly for a few seconds before Reed exclaimed, "I don't know how we start this or whatever!" He flailed.

Shane caught his wrists and pulled him close. Reed's heart stopped for a moment and his breath hitched, before looking up at Shane with wide eyes.

"Well, usually we do cheesy one-liners such as…I think we should take our clothes off." Shane's fingers moved from Reed's wrist down to his shoulders, playing with the straps of the wife-beater, his voice husky and seducing. Reed swallowed before nodding. "That would help, I think."

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><p>An hour later, they were panting, sweaty and sticky. The covers were mess. Reed's eyelids fluttered closed and he caught his breath. Shane drew him closer to his body and pressed a kiss on to his forehead. "You were wonderful." he whispered.<p>

"T-thanks. S-so were you." Reed stuttered, before drawing in another breath. His lower body hurt, but he hadn't noticed it until now.

Shane caressed his curls and cheeks. "Do you wanna wait a little bit, before we go?"

Reed nodded. "Yeah…give me a couple minutes."

Shane nodded too. "Okay…I love you."

Reed opened his eyes tiredly. He smiled. "I love you too."

Blaine flipped off the bathroom light and stretched. The date he had planned down to the last minute had gone rather good. It was the "down to the last minute" part that hadn't gone so well. They'd missed the ice cream that was at the end, and Blaine had not been as immaculate and graceful on his ice skates he he'd hoped, but Kurt had been happy. It had ended on a happy note, and that was what mattered.

He sighed happily as he pulled up the covers and snuggled into bed. He stopped dead when he felt something sticky. A bag feeling in the pit of his stomach appeared. _What the…_? Next he felt something smooth, like paper. He reached down and pulled it out.

_**Served big bro. By both of us ;)**_

_**-Shane & Reed**_

Blaine made an unmanly sound and fell out of bed. He ran out of the room and into the hall. "_SHANE! I'M GOING TO FREAKING KILL YOU! YOU BETTER BE HIDING TOO REED!"_

The Tweedles glanced out of their room and grinned. They whipped out their phone and texted Shane.

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><p>Shane was sitting up in the hotel bed finishing the last of his geometry homework. His and Reed's suitcases were on the other bed. All of their clothes were discarded in the corner. His phone, which was sitting on the nightstand, rang out.<p>

**Good thing you guys got out of there. Blaine's throwing a fit.**

**-Tweedles**

Shane snorted and typed back.

**Thanks for covering for us. We'll probably be gone for the next week or so. **

**-Shane xx**

He flipped his phone shut and looked down to his right. Reed was lying on his stomach, the blankets only pulled up to his hips, leaving his back to the cool air. There was a peaceful smile on his face as he slept happily.

Shane smiled too as he gently brushed Reed's curls. He pulled the covers up to his shoulders and switched off the light. Then he snuggled down gratefully under the covers and pulled Reed against him. Reed made a humming sound and twisted his head sleepily. "Finally finished?"

Shane nodded. "Yeah. Tweedles texted. Blaine freaked out." He chuckled and nosed Reed's curls affectionately. "That was a good plan you came up with."

Reed smiled and rested his head in the area where Shane's chest met his neck, yawning. "I thought it was pretty good too."

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><p><strong>AN: *grins* I made the squad! *happy dance* <strong>

**Anyway, yeah, more smut/fluff stuff. Hope you enjoyed! Leave me a review!**

**Love Lala, xoxo**


	4. Canvas

**This was based off a drawing that Homemadedarkmark made (it's called Canvas and it's under her deviantART gallery)– she said she wanted some kind of porny fic to go with it. I'm going to send the link to her :) But since I just wrote some smutty stuff, there's a fluff fic coming after this!**

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><p><strong>Rated T for heavily implied sex.<strong>

**Disclaimer:**

**"Glee" belongs to Ryan Murphy**

**"Dalton" belongs to CP Coulter**

**The art that was the inspiration for this fic belongs to Jen, aka Homemadedarkmark  
><strong>

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><p>"Stupid people…not til Tuesday…what's the matter with them…?"<p>

Shane stepped cautiously into Kurt and Reed's room, hearing the disgruntled mutters. Kurt had dashed out a few minutes earlier, saying that Reed was throwing something of a fit, and Shane, being the loyal boyfriend that he was, had comet to investigate.

Reed was pacing the room, hair frazzled and eyes dark. He kept mumbling angrily to himself under his breath. He threw some magazines off his bed and plopped down crossly, knotting his legs and crossing his arms, blowing a curl out of his face.

Shane smiled gently and stepped into the room. "What's wrong babe?" he asked as he closed the door and crossed the room, sitting down tentatively beside Reed.

"I ran out of canvases. I can't paint anything til Tuesday, because that's when the art supply store down in Westerville opens again. It's not open during the holidays."

Indeed, there was snow falling softly on the lawns outside. It was not bad yet, but the television was prediction a full-on blizzard later in the evening and into the night.

Shane put an arm around Reed and pulled him close. Reed leaned into him, sighing as he felt Shane's chest beneath his cheek. Shane ruffled his curls. "What if I was your replacement canvas for now?"

Reed blinked and sat up, looking confused. "What do you mean?"

Shane shrugged, grinning. "You can paint on me. Whatever you want."

Reed furrowed his brow. "…as long as you're okay with it."

Shane shrugged again. "I'm fine with whatever. Go ahead."

Reed leaned forward and pecked Shane on the lips. "You're pretty much the best boyfriend ever, you know that?"

Shane chuckled. "I wouldn't go that far. I'd say that'd be you."

Shane got up and stood in the middle of the room, stripping off his shirt. Reed threw on his smock and walked over the corner of the room to open up the paint cans. When he succeeded, he turned to drag them nearer to Shane and stopped when he saw the muscular chest, toned and tanned from years of dedication and practice. His breath caught in his throat.

Shane cocked his head to the side. "You okay?"

Reed shook his head. "Um, yeah…I'm fine." Shane smiled and stood straight and tall.

Reed pulled out a thin paintbrush and dipped it into a satiny-looking scarlet color. "You can't move for an hour." He warned, slowly dragging the brush in a long, lazy swirl down Shane's shoulder.

Shane closed his eyes, laughing gently. "Trust me, I'm not going anywhere..."

The colors mixed together as Reed painted Shane, eyes wide, taking in the muscular body. At one point he took a hair clip and pinned the hair above his right ear up, so that thirty seconds later, the ear was colored royal blue. The scarlet danced like fire up and down his right arm, and stretched up his left. It was outlined by a lighter blue, weaving in and out of the pattern, as if Reed had taken bits of the sky and stirred them into the paint. Amidst it all, sunny yellow jumped over his chest. The blue was in a curl across his cheek, red following dutifully, and blue – this time mixed with white – was scattered across his nose. Reed was painting across the back of his neck, making Shane shake with giggles some. "Stop shaking!" Reed scolded gently. Shane attempted to control himself and murmured, "Sorry…"

Reed drew in a shaky breath. It was intimate, being this close to Shane like this. He could feel heat coming off in waves, warming his own skin and making his eyelids flutter. He bit his lip, trying to concentrate, but it was difficult with Shane bare back just…_there_…right in front of him!

Reed shook his head. _Finish!_

An hour later, Reed sighed and put his paintbrush down. He pulled the clip out of Shane's hair, steered Shane towards the full-length mirror in his closet and wrapped his arms loosely around his waist. Shane stared at himself in the mirror, following the pattern of colors. "I'm very colorful."

"Yeah." Reed murmured, rubbing his cheek along the back of Shane's left shoulder blade.

"I'm like a living, walking rainbow!" Shane grinned and Reed shook with silent laughter. "Yeah…you're my living, walking rainbow."

Shane turned his head to Reed's peaceful expression. He reached up and caressed his cheek, trailing some yellow along it. Shane smirked. "C'mon…my turn."

Reed's eyes opened wide. "What?"

Shane took Reed's hands and led back into the room. "You get to paint me and make me stand for an hour and I don't get to do the same to you?" He smirked. Reed blushed and slowly took off his smock, throwing it to the ground. He then peeled off his shirt, folding it at the end of Kurt's bed neatly before turning back to Shane.

Reed's body was quite different from Shane's. It was delicate, like a spring flower of some sort. His limbs were thin and graceful. His skin was creamy, with some freckles smattered haphazardly across his nose. Shane felt himself staring for a few moments. It was very…alluring, to say the least.

Reed waved his hand in front of Shane's face. "Hello?"

Shane blinked rapidly and came back to reality. "Oh, yeah."

He dipped his fingers into the cool paint and trailed the blue paint from the front of Reed's neck all the way down to his lower back, swirling it along the way. Reed felt himself shaking. No one had ever…touched him like this before. Not even Shane. But it felt…good. Like he could completely trust someone to take care of him, when he felt vulnerable like this.

Shane's method was quite different from Reed's. He made a long stretch of each color around Reed's body and then branched out, as if he was creating a vibrant vine of paint along Reed. The colors swirled around, mixing and creating deep purples, soft greens, and bright oranges. Scratch Shane's body, he thought. Reed was the living rainbow.

For a final touch, Shane dipped his fingers in the red, reached up, and carefully wiped a heart on Reed's cheek. Reed watched him steadily, the corners of his lips twitching up into a smile. Shane drew back. "There." he said softly.

Reed turned to look at himself in the mirror. He smiled, amazed. "It's…beautiful Shane." Shane grinned and wrapped his arms around Reed's shoulders. "Yes, you are." he whispered leaning down to kiss the tender spot between Reed's ear and jaw. Reed let out a tiny hum before twisting his head and capturing Shane's lips with his own.

The kiss slowly became more passionate. Shane's arms went very low, resting tightly against the small of Reed's back. Reed's hands found their way around Shane's neck and pulled him lower. The height difference was annoying, so they ended up stumbling to Reed's bed.

Shane rolled over so that Reed was trapped underneath him and began to suck on the skin below his jaw. Reed cried out weakly, his fingers running through Shane's curls and along his neck, but Shane was determined. His hands made their way to Reed's stomach and began to trace the colors that had dried on. Reed arched his neck up to Shane, blushing at the wanton moan that slipped out of his mouth, only making Shane want more. He leaned down to Reed's ear.

"Um…Reed? Can I ask you something?"

"…y-yeah…"

Shane shifted, unknowingly grinding his hips into Reed's. "Um…well, we've been dating for about a year and half now, and…" he swallowed. "I want to know if you want to…"

"Do it?" Reed twisted, looking at Shane with brown eyes glazed over with pleasure and lust. "I thought you'd never ask."

Shane gaped with fish eyes for a second. Then he nodded. "Okay…okay." He captured Reed's lips again and broke it. "Just…just promise you'll tell me if we go too fast."

Reed nodded quickly. "Okay, okay…please just…_please_!"

Shane gasped as Reed pulled Shane's lips to his own.

* * *

><p>Shane twisted so that was on his side. Sweat matted his curls, and slid down his temple, mixing in the daffodil yellow. Reed was on his back, wrists lying by his ears, breathing heavily. All of their clothes were thrown about the room. Shane reached out and ran his thumb along Reed's cheek. Reed opened his eyes weakly. "That was…really good." he managed. He shifted, wincing.<p>

Shane frowned sympathetically. "I'm sorry it hurts."

Reed shrugged. "I knew it was going to…and it was worth it." A smile crossed his face and his eyes slipped shut again.

Shane reached down and grabbed the blankets that had been thrown off the bed during their hour of heaven. He threw them over himself and Reed, smiling when Reed's form stopped quivering so much. He leaned down and kissed him on the cheek. "How's this?"

Reed nodded. "Warm…thanks."

Shane nodded back. He slid an arm under Reed's shoulders and another arm crossed his waist, pulling him against Shane's chest. He gently kissed the skin that his face was pressed up against. "I love you Shane."

Shane smiled as his own his eyes fluttered. "I love you too Reed."

As they both slipped into unconsciousness, the snow fell outside the room, blanketing the fields outside with powder, cold taking over. But in their haven of blankets and warmth, it was only them, and that was all that mattered.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Yeah, I know, this is a lot like the last one-shot I put up. The next one will be non-smutty. It's a future fic, and it's fluffy! :D<strong>

**So yeah, see you guys!**

**Love Lala, xoxo**


	5. Rubbing Off

**Disclaimer:**

**"Glee" belongs to Ryan Murphy**

**"Dalton" belongs to CP Coulter**

* * *

><p>The room was dark and quiet, shadows flickering across the room where the lights from the city outside hit the wall. The little girl was huddled under her bed sheets, peering around nervously. She was afraid that if she looked out, she would see a ghost at the foot of her bed, or a monster leering out of her closet. She whimpered and pulled the covers over her head.<p>

Out in the hall, the clock tolled three in the morning. The girl pursed her lips. Three o'clock was the demon hour, or so her cousin told her. When they would sleep over, they always put a ring of salt around her bed before they left, and she left peacefully every night that happened, because she knew the salt would keep away the ghouls that haunted the night.

However there was no salt to protect her this time. She looked out again, looking around.

Her door creaked, and she watched in horror as it opened. There was no one outside. She drew the covers over her head, scrunching herself up into a ball. Maybe it – whatever it was – wouldn't see her!

Something heavy padded across the room, and she could hear panting. She squeezed her eyes shut. Whatever it was, she didn't want to see it. She tried desperately to remember some of the incantations her cousin taught her.

Something nosed her blankets and whined. She frowned and lifted up the blankets a tiny bit. A pair of big brown eyes peered curiously at her.

"Cinnamon!" The giant Saint Bernard panted happily. The girl smiled and reached out a hand to scratch the dog's head. Cinnamon's tongue lolled out with pleasure. The girl's eyes darted to the open door, and opened wide with horror when she realized that she could see straight down the dark hallway, into the kitchen. She didn't want to get up and close her door. What if there was a monster under her bed, waiting to get her if she set a foot out? It didn't eat Cinnamon. But maybe it just didn't like dogs.

Her breath stopped when she saw a figure step into sight in the kitchen. It scratched it's head lazily and opened the cupboard.

Maybe it was a demon, maybe it was just a robber. But she had no way of knowing unless she walked in there, risking life and limb. She reached under her pillow, where she kept the silver baseball bat that her cousin had gotten her for her birthday. A way to protect herself from both demons and regular bad people. She pulled it out carefully, watching as the figure got out the jar of peanut butter. She then reached over to her bedpost, where her bottle of holy water hung. She grabbed it and uncapped the bottle. She put a finger to her lips. "Shh. Be quiet Cinnamon." The dog whined.

Slowly she crept out of bed. She tiptoed across her room, and then flattened herself up against the wall. Still hearing the sounds of activity, she quietly walked out into the hall.

When she reached the archway to the kitchen, she stood still for a second, watching the figure and remembering what her cousin had taught her. Finally, she drew in a breath and yelled at the top of her lungs:

"GET OUT OF MY APARTMENT YOU _DEMON!"_

The figure turned around in shock just as the girl ran forward, brandishing the bat and still yelling. Without missing a beat, it moved to the side and grabbed the bat from behind. The girl shrieked and yanked on it, flinging the holy water at it. The figure cried out at the sudden wetness and groped on the wall for the lightswitch.

Shane Anderson van Kamp looked down in disbelief at his daughter who was still trying to pull the bat away from him. "Lily!"

Lily Anderson van Kamp looked up with wide eyes at her father. "Dad!" She jumped up and flung her arms around him. "I thought you were a demon or a robber or - !"

"Shh!" Shane put a finger to his lips. "Don't wake up Daddy!"

But it was too late. There were footsteps along the hall and Reed Anderson van Kamp stepped into the room, tying a robe around his body, eyes wide in panic. "Shane, wha…what - !" His eyes alighted on the silver bat, the now empty bottle, and the splattered peanut butter and jelly sandwich on the tiles. He closed his eyes and sighed. Shane and Lily bit their lips and stared at each other in alarm.

Finally, Reed raised his head. "Lily, c'mon. You can sleep with us tonight. It is Saturday. Shane, can you…?" He gestured to the mess on the floor. Shane nodded while Lily grinned and ran down the now glowing hallway. Reed watched her go, and then turned to Shane. "A midnight snack?" he asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Hey! I was hungry!" Shane raised his hands in defense.

"You're always hungry!" Reed strode down the hall after his daughter.

* * *

><p>When Shane returned to the room, Lily was cuddled under the covers in the middle of the bed, giggling s she watched an episode of Spongebob on Reed's iPhone. Reed was just coming out of the bathroom, and he smiled when he saw Shane. Shane grinned and kissed him on the head. Cinnamon padded into the room after her masters and jumped up on the bed, curling up at the foot. Reed rolled his eyes. "Looks like we're having a big sleepover tonight."<p>

Reed and Shane climbed into bed on either side of their daughter, Lily handing the iPhone obediently to her daddy. Shane switched off the light and the room went dark.

When they the heard their daughter's steady breathing Reed turned to Shane in the darkness. "I think Alan is rubbing off on her too much."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I liketh the idea of Shane and Reed as daddies. You'll be seeing more drabbles like these in the future.<strong>

**Sorry for lack of update, school's been a little hectic. I hate Spanish class. I FREAKING HATE IT.**

**Anyway, I might possibly have a homework free weekend. I plan to spend that time tanning outside if it's sunny, playing Portal 2, and writing. **

**Happy Weekend! Love Lala, xoxo**


	6. Vacation

**Disclaimer:**

**"Glee" belongs to Ryan Murphy**

**"Dalton" belongs to CP Coulter**

* * *

><p>Shane smiled dreamily as the bed he was lying in was swept with a gentle breeze. Combined with the warm feeling of a certain Dormouse cuddled up against, him, and the sun shining down on them through the opened window, it was complete peace.<p>

Vacation time at the Tweedles' beach house. The rest of the boys were out on a boat, fishing. He could distantly see the tiny shape, looking like a rowboat. Reed, being unable to swim, had backed out of the trip, and Shane, being Shane, had stayed behind with him.

Shane looked down at Reed's face, serene and smiling. It was good for him to get away from the pressure for the moment. Shane frowned when he remembered when they had arrived yesterday. Reed had checked his email only to find a that his mother had sent him a load of fashion items to check over for a show. Reed had spent the whole day and night checking over them, filling himself up with coffee while Shane slept in the bed beside him. Finally, around eight in the morning, Reed closed his laptop and sighed, waking Shane up.

"Hey baby." Shane murmured, pulling Reed into his arms. Reed yawned. "Hey…" he mumbled. Shane placed a kiss on his curls. "Go to sleep." Reed nodded. "Thanks, sorry I won't be…participating in much today." Shane shrugged. "It's okay, they'll understand. Now go to sleep." Reed nodded. "Love…you…"

Shane smiled as he watched Reed's eyes slip shut. "Love you too."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Gah, this is pathetic. <strong>

**So, the beginning of the end of the world is supposed to start today in about 24 minutes, for my time zone. I just found that out yesterday. And I kind of wished that I didn't. Because, being the **_**EXTREMELY**_** paranoid person that I am, I am worried. Seriously. I'm as paranoid as Dwight. If not, more.**

**I hope we get to the end of Dalton before the world ends *shrugs* **

**Good luck everyone! :D**

**Love Lala, xoxo**


	7. Rain

**Disclaimer:**

**"Glee" belongs to Ryan Murphy**

**"Dalton" belongs to CP Coulter**

* * *

><p>The rain was falling past his face, into his hair, but he didn't care.<p>

He would stay there, under that tree, for as long as it took.

Until Reed talked to him.

He could remember the yells. The tears. Those big brown eyes, filled with misery. The door slamming shut.

Stupid Shane.

So stupid.

But he would stay here under the window, for as long as it took.

Blaine came out a few minutes later, giving him an umbrella and a granola bar. "Come in later. I don't want you getting sick."

He shook his head. "No. Not until I can talk to him."

Blaine sighed.

* * *

><p>Kurt had tried to get him to talk for an hour since he came back.<p>

But he wouldn't.

He remained curled up underneath the blankets, blessing the pillow with tears.

Stupid Reed.

He couldn't even remember what they had argued about.

So small, and yet it had blown up.

Reed had stormed out, frustrated and crying.

Now what?

Blaine opened the door.

"He wants to talk to you Reed."

Reed shook his head.

"No, I know what he's going to say."

"No you don't." Kurt said, pursing his lips.

Reed simply buried his face in the pillow again.

Blaine sighed.

"Reed, he's been standing outside your window for the past two hours. He says he's not moving until he talks to you."

Reed blinked, and then turned to his window beside his bed. He reached out and pulled it aside slightly.

And there was Shane.

Soaking wet and unblinking, staring up at the window with a lost, hopeless expression.

Reed bit his lip.

Then, he jumped off the bed.

* * *

><p>Shane had seen the shade move. And then move back.<p>

Blaine must've told him. He'd figured as much.

He was so concentrated on the rain-splattered window that he didn't hear the footfalls behind him.

A voice, so familiar, so memorized he heard it in his head and heart all the time. "Hey!"

Shane turned, and saw Reed, standing there, getting wet, eyes wide. He was hugging himself in a coat, and holding another.

He walked forward, holding out the coat. "Aren't you cold?"

Shane took it. He balanced the umbrella between his cheek and shoulder as he shrugged it on. "Yeah."

Reed shifted uneasily. "So…you wanted to talk?"

Shane shook his head. "No. I just want you to listen."

He got down on his knees and took Reed's hands.

"What we argued about – geez, I can't even remember – but I was an idiot. I can't believe that I would let something like that get in the way of you." He swallowed. "And, I wanted to know if you'll forgive me for my mistake. I don't deserve it, but…" he choked and lowered his head.

Reed felt hot tears mixing in with the rain. He shook his head furiously. "No, it wasn't your fault, it was mine too. I shouldn't have made such a big deal. I should be the one apologizing – " He cut off. "And I'm sorry."

Shane looked up at Reed, hands gently reaching up and brushing away the rain and the tears. He smiled weepily. He stood up and wrapped his arms around Reed's waist. He leaned down to Reed's ear. "I love you." He whispered quietly.

Reed smiled as the familiar warmth and arms surrounded him and his world went dark as his face was buried in Shane's coat. "I love you too Shane."

Shane leaned back and pressed Reed's lips to his own. Reed melted into the kiss, closing his eyes. This, he decided, was pure heaven.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: *grins* I'm ALIVE!<strong>

**And I get to go see the fourth POTC movie tonight! And eat steak for dinner. Life is pretty good. Not only that, but the preview that CP gave us – about a certain Shane Anderson that may be transferring to Dalton Academy *squeals***

**Have a nice night, or morning, depending on what time zone you're in.**

**Love Lala, xoxo**


	8. Present

**Disclaimer:**

**"Glee" belongs to Ryan Murphy**

**"Dalton" belongs to CP Coulter**

* * *

><p>Reed didn't really know what was going on.<p>

It was Friday night and he had just settled down for a good night's sleep. Right as he was about to drift off, something had pounced on his bed and clapped a hand over his mouth, snuffling the scream that was rising out of Reed's throat. Oh, dear Givenchy, kidnappers! Whoever it was had tied a bag over his head and had tied his hands and feet together, and then carried him down the hall, him putting up a fight the whole way. Finally, he was plopped on to something soft and the bag was pulled off. He didn't have time to speak, because he heard a _crack_ and the dim light that had been coming in from the top of the crate he had been packed in disappeared.

Ethan's voice appeared from beside the crate. "Not to worry little Dormouse!"

"We've taken care of all the arrangements!"

The entirety of Windsor, who had been surrounding the box, were shocked at the string of curses that flowed from the crate upon hearing the Tweedles' voices. Wes raised his eyebrows, shocked. "Damn, I've got to give Reed credit for that."

Kurt shook his head. "And we all thought he was innocent."

"_When I get out of here, I swear to God - !"_

Ethan rolled his eyes. "That's the thing Reed."

Evan chimed in. "You won't be getting out of there anytime soon."

"Maybe, in about…four, five hours?"

"_What?"_

"But don't worry your fluffy little head!"

"You'll be safe and sound!"

With that, the twins rolled away the cart that the crate had been sitting on, Reed still swearing.

When they came back an hour later, they sat down in the common room with the conspirators. "Well, he's been shipped off."

Blaine shook his head. "I can't believe we actually went through with this."

"Will he be okay?" David asked worriedly.

Ethan nodded. "The crate was cushioned, so he should be comfortable. He has a pack of spare clothes in there. We asked the attendant to give him something to eat about halfway through the flight."

Evan grinned. "And that snack will be laced with a sedative so that he'll be asleep when the package arrives, so he won't make such a fuss and spoil the surprise."

Kurt gaped. "You two are evil. Reed will never forgive us."

Wes smirked. "He will if the recipient responds well."

* * *

><p>It had been two hours, and Reed had begged the attendants from the airholes of the crate to give him any information on the plan, but they were adamant. No information was to be given. Sighing, he slumped against the wall of the crate. He could feel the floor moving beneath him, and his ears were popping, so he guessed he was on the twins' jet. Where he was going, he had no idea.<p>

He closed his eyes, feeling a little sleepy. They had given him a sandwich a few minutes before, but it had tasted funny. As Reed curled up into a ball on the floor of the crate, everything was going dark around the edges. _They drugged the stupid sandwich_, he thought bitterly. _I'm going to freaking __**kill **__them_.

And that was his last coherent thought before he fell fast asleep.

* * *

><p>Shane smiled sleepily as he opened his eyes and met the red numbers on his clock. <strong>9:43 AM<strong>. He looked aside and saw the group of photographs that made a home on his nightstand. The largest was a picture of a strawberry-blonde curly-haired, brown-eyed angel that had dominated his dreams every night for the past year or so. He brushed the curls out of his eyes and snuggled in deeper into his bed. It was a Saturday, he had no homework over the weekend, and, to top it all off, it was his birthday.

He sighed, deciding to sleep in a little longer.

The person knocking on his door decided that he should wake up.

"_Package for Mr. Shane Anderson!" _the voice outside commanded. Shane groaned and stumbled out of bed. "Coming…" he mumbled, not sure if the deliverer could hear him. He groped for the doorknob and threw open the door, rubbing his eyes.

The man standing there was leaning on a cart with a large crate in it. There were four colorful balloons attached to the corner of it. The man wheeled the cart in and dumped the crate on the ground, ignoring the _Fragile: Handle With Care_ sign on the side. He handed Shane a clipboard. "Sign here, here, and initial there, please." he ordered in a monotonous voice. Shane did so. When he had finished, the man handed him a large yellow envelope and left.

Once the door was closed, Shane turned to observe the crate. He pursed his lips and smiled. His first birthday present. Already he was feeling giddy. He sat on his bed and opened the envelope and a half a dozen cards fell out. He picked up the first one and opened it.

_Happy 17__th__ little brother! Hope you have a nice day with your present! :)_

_-Blaine_

Shane went through all of the cards, each from a respective Windsor member. Finally there was one card left, that read: **Read This Last! **Shane was a little disappointed (okay, VERY disappointed) that Reed hadn't written him a card, unless this was it. He opened it up.

**Little Bat – **

**Your present will only be around for the weekend, but we think you will like it very much! It will return to us on it's own, but for the time being, go have fun with it!**

**-Love the Tweedles**

Shane glanced at the crate, suddenly feeling wary. Whatever the twins had gotten him, it couldn't be good. It probably bit, or had a disease, or something unthinkable. He reached over to the side of his bed, where he kept an aluminum baseball bat. He cautiously edged towards the crate and pried the lid open.

There, sleeping soundly on a mass of pillows, wearing pajamas, was Reed.

Shane gaped for a full minute before looking at the envelope and back to the sleeping angel. They had shipped Reed, on a plane, all the way to Colorado for his birthday.

Oh dear _God_.

Shane ran a hand through his curls and smiled tenderly at the Dormouse. Reed was probably going to be grumpy when he woke up, and he figured that waking up in a crate was not going to help his mood.

Carefully, he reached into the crate and scooped Reed up in his arms. Reed smiled in his sleep and unconsciously nuzzled closer to Shane. Shane smiled and laid him on the bed, pulling the covers up. He reached out and stroked his fingers along Reed's forehead.

This was going to be a good birthday.

* * *

><p>Reed felt himself awaken, but his head felt it was full of cloth or something. He attempted to open his eyes, but could not – too heavy. He hummed in displeasure and shifted.<p>

He wasn't cramped in the crate anymore, and he stretched slowly, reveling in the feeling of freedom. He was in a bed, and he wondered if it was his bed back at Dalton. No, it wasn't. The pillow was a little floppy, but comfy nonetheless, and it smelled faintly of cologne. The covers were flannel and the mattress felt as though it had been slept on several times. There was a cool breeze at the nape of his neck and he finally creaked open his eyes.

The room he was in was a dorm room. It didn't possess the elegance that Dalton advertised, but a fresh, modern feel. Across the room was a desk with an open laptop on it. Papers were scattered across the desk and floor. The bed across from his looked like it hadn't been slept in for a while. He twisted his head and saw an open window right beside his head. Birds twittered outside, and he was looking down a steep cliff, with trees and rocks, with a snow-capped mountain in the distance. He looked to his left. The nightstand was covered with photographs. Reed raised his eyebrows when he saw a picture of himself, caught in mid-blush.

Reed wanted to put the puzzle pieces together. He really wanted to know where the hell the twins had sent him.

But he was still tired. So he pulled the covers up again and fell back asleep.

* * *

><p>Everything was still dark, so Reed didn't have any idea why he was being woken up. He guessed the occupant of the bed had come and wanted him to get out of it. But he didn't want to. He still wanted to sleep. So he shoved away the hands that were shaking him and buried himself under warm darkness.<p>

A low chuckle vibrated near him. "C'mon, little bird. Time to wake up and sing."

"Mmph…'s cheesy." Reed mumbled sleepily. Another laugh. Then a warm weight fell down around his shoulders. A voice whispered in his ear, "I know you're sleepy, but I think you've slept long enough."

Reed made a perturbed face and blinked an eye, only to meet a marbled green-gray one. "…_Shane?"_

Shane smiled. "Morning Sleepy Beauty. Welcome to Colorado!"

Reed's eyes opened all the way. "They sent me...to Colorado!" He groaned. "Why?"

Shane grinned, lying down next to him. "The guys thought it would be funny to send you over as my birthday present."

"…birthday?" Reed twisted his head, and Shane smiled dreamily at his disoriented state. "Oh, well…happy birthday!"

"Thanks dear." Reed blushed at the name. Shane snuggled under the covers and adopted the role of the big spoon, sliding an arm across Reed's waist and pulling his back against Shane's chest. "Mind if I join you?"

Reed nodded happily. "As long as I can go back to sleep."

Shane smirked. "I had the same idea."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Here's your mission. I allow anonymous reviews, so give me your idea of:<strong>

**A: A Rane oneshot**

**and B: An attempt at a Dwight/Reed fic**

**Cuz we all know that deep down, we all ship Dwight and Reed in **_**some **_**way ;)**

**Good night!**

**Love Lala, xoxo**


	9. Cookies

**For: ****crazy4penguins60  
><strong>

**Disclaimer:**

"**Glee" belongs to Ryan Murphy**

"**Dalton" belongs to CP Coulter**

* * *

><p>Shane stumbled through the doors of Windsor, a duffel bag slung over his shoulder, soaked to the bone. It was practically flooding outside and Shane had braved crossing the campus of Dalton to get to Windsor, where he hoped warm clothes, dinner, and a strawberry blonde angel would be waiting for him.<p>

Charlie walked in and saw Shane shivering and creating a puddle on the polished floor. He sighed. "Go up and get changed. Looks like you're staying here for the night. Not a good idea going out in that again." And he walked away into the kitchen, where, Shane abruptly noticed, a heavenly smell was coming from.

Drawn like a fly to honey, Shane walked into the kitchen, nose held high, smiling. His jaw dropped when he saw the Dalton boys staring at an ornate plate piled high with chocolate chip cookies.

Wes looked over at Shane in the doorway. "Aww, someone needs cheering up!" Shane shrugged and stepped closer to the plate, taking a huge whiff.

Ethan smirked. "Someone's falling for the spell of the magical cookies!" he sang. Evan grinned. "Alice, are you going to take pity on the Little Bat?"

"You're already torturing us Alice! Help a lost soul!" Evan pushed Shane towards Kurt, who dodged the soaking clothes.

Kurt rolled his eyes. "Sure, whatever." He plucked a cookie from the pile and handed it to Shane. All of the boy's eyes roved over the cookie hungrily. Shane smiled and took a bite.

Later, Shane would never be able to describe what happened to him at that moment. Blaine told him that he had zoned out. His grip on reality ceased to exist and he was flying into space. Colors flashed in front of his eyes and he felt a stupid grin on his face appear.

Kurt snorted. "Hold him back."

It was said at just the right time. Shane lunged for the rest of the plate and the twins grabbed his arms. Kurt stood in front the plate sternly. Shane whimpered. Kurt closed his eyes. Then he beckoned Shane closer. He whispered in his ear, "I'm guessing you came to see Reed. He has a secret stash of cookies. It's why he's not down here. Maybe he'll give you some."

Shane grinned. Then he sprinted upstairs.

* * *

><p>Reed was curled up in bed, already in pajamas, looking over his monthly portfolio, calmly eating a cookie from his secret stash. He always smirked when he heard the boys tumble over each other to get to the fresh plate that Kurt baked. Little did they know that Reed had his own batch.<p>

All of a sudden, Shane burst into the room, wide-eyed. Reed shrieked and jumped. Shane's eyes alighted on him. He grinned. "Hiya Reed!"

"Shane -! What, what are you -?"

Shane lunged across the bed for the bag of cookies. Reed screamed and grabbed the bag, jumping off the bed and catching his foot in the sheets. He tumbled to the floor and scrambled up, racing to the bathroom. Shane gave chase, both shrieking with laughter. Shane chased him around the room, making brave attempts to grab the bag, but Reed was being very protective. Finally, Shane snatched the bag and pranced across the room to Kurt's bed, where he proceeded to reach a hand into the bag and pulled a cookie out. He crammed it into his mouth, humming in ecstasy.

He turned to look at Reed triumphantly and stopped dead.

Reed was standing forlornly in the middle of the room, arms hanging limply at his sides. His head was lowered, but then he raised it and Shane's heart broke. His lower lips was pushed out slightly and he sniffled, looking at Shane pitifully. Shane remembered seeing a puppy at a shelter when he was little, with the exact same look that Reed was looking at him with now.

Reed whimpered and turned to walk out of the room. Shane couldn't stand it anymore. He jumped off the bed and grabbed Reed's hand. Reed continued to tremble. Shane led him back to the bed and sat him on it. He smiled, gathering the blankets around Reed and himself and gave Reed the bag. Reed's happiness was more important than his wants. Reed smiled at Shane and leaned against him. Shane wrapped his arm around him and watched as Reed took a cookie out of the bag and cracked it in half. He gave Shane the other half and the pair cheerfully bumped their cookies together. Shane sighed. This was happiness: love, warmth, and cookies.


	10. Campout

**For: ****WarblerKlainebow**

**Disclaimer:**

**"Glee" belongs to Ryan Murphy**

**"Dalton" belongs to CP Coulter**

* * *

><p>"Of course it's raining." Reed stood at the window with his arms crossed, pouting at the stormy clouds outside. Shane joined him, one hand shoved in his pocket, the other across Reed's shoulders. It was only natural that this would happen; you plan a campout two weeks before, get everything packed, and then it rains on the supposedly sunniest day of the month. Typical.<p>

Shane pursed his lips. He really had been looking forward to a campout – he and his friends at Walcott had had them all of the time. He had also been looking forward to snuggling with Reed beside a fire, roasting marshmallows, sleeping in one sleeping bag…he snapped back to reality in time to swallow the drool that had been making its way towards his mouth.

Shane shook his head. Well, he thought, guess we'll just have to wait.

Then his lips curved up into a smile.

Or did they?

* * *

><p>After getting Reed out of Windsor – courtesy of Kurt with the promise of shopping trip – Shane had gotten to work. An hour, two bruises, and nineteen cuss words later, Shane stood up to admire his work.<p>

He had successfully made a blanket fort stretching from Reed's bed to Kurt's. Inside were a mass of more blankets and pillows; a bag of marshmallows, graham crackers, and mini Hershey bars; and a group of candles.

Shane grinned. Now he could go through with all of the plans he had.

* * *

><p><strong>Step One: Getting Cozy<strong>

Shane crawled underneath the blanket fort, Reed following, mouth agape. "Shane," he said, half giggling, "you didn't have to – "

"No, but I wanted to." Shane smirked and leaned against the side of Reed's bed, Reed curling up next to him. Shane grabbed the blankets and folded them neatly around them. Soon, they were swathed in a mass of fleece and silk, reclining on soft pillows, and breathing in the scent of each other.

Reed smiled at Shane. "It's dark in here."

Shane smirked. "Not to worry." He reached out and snatched the lighter and held it to the candles on his left. Soon, the blankets above them were aglow with a cozy, homey feeling. Reed decided that, in the flimsy fort, with a storm brewing outside, he'd never felt safer.

* * *

><p><strong>Step Two: Smores<strong>

"You're kidding me."

"Um, no I'm not."

"You've never had a smore before?"

"No…?"

"Well then, love, we'll just have to convert you, won't we? Here –" Shane grabbed a poker and speared a marshmallow with it. "Now, you roast that over the candle, I'll get the other stuff."

"Okay." Reed nervously watched as the marshmallow got crusty. "Um, is it done yet?"

Shane peered at it. "Yep." Reed took the poker off of the candle and reached for the marshmallow, scraping his finger along the hot metal as he did so. "Ouch!" He stuck his finger in the mouth to cool the burn. Shane smiled kindly and plucked the marshmallow off, squashed it in between the graham cracker and the Hershey bar. "One piece of heaven, roasted and created to perfection." He handed the smore to Reed with a flourish. Reed rolled his eyes and grabbed the smore, taking a huge bite. He chewed for a minute and his eyes went wide. "Oh my god."

* * *

><p><strong>Step Three: Scary Stories<strong>

Shane paused in the middle of his story for a dramatic effect. It was four in the morning now. He and Reed had spent the whole time cuddling and eating smores. Both were surprised that the other wasn't tired yet. The candles had been blown out after Reed started coughing from the smoke, and the storm was raging full on outside. Reed was hiding his face in Shane's shirt, and Shane could feel him quaking.

Shane was beginning to feel a little bad for scaring Reed like this. "Um…I can stop if you want."

"No! Keep going!" Reed shook his head wildly. "I want to hear the end!"

"You sure…?" Shane began to run his fingers through Reed's soft curls. Reed nodded furiously.

"Well – "

There was a huge crack of thunder outside and Reed screamed, clutching Shane's pajamas and burrowing himself into Shane. Shane jumped too and toppled over sideways, Reed clinging to his clothes.

Shane looked into Reed's frightened eyes and smiled gently. "I think that's enough for tonight."

* * *

><p><strong>Step Four: Cuddling and Kissing?<strong>

Shane settled down on the floor, Reed curled into his side. They both sighed and looked around the fort – it gave them a strange feeling of a sanctuary, where nothing – not the Windsors, Dwight's demons, and the concerns of the world around them could reach them.

Shane smiled down at where he believed Reed's face was. "So, how was it?"

Reed flipped over on to his stomach and reached up, fingers tracing the curves of Shane's face. "Perfect. Absolutely perfect…you're perfect."

Shane snorted. "I don't think so. You're pretty perfect."

Reed laughed charmingly. "Not in the slightest." He shifted so that his face was closer to Shane's. He leaned forward and kissed Shane, smiling at the taste of chocolate on his lips. Shane's eyes slipped shut and his arms involuntarily twisted around Reed's middle, pulling him on top of him. His tongue reached out and pushed gently against Reed's lips, which parted and let him in. His tongue explored, taking in the taste of smores and strawberries. Reed moaned and pushed in closer. Shane's fingers slid under Reed's shirt and traced patterns on his chest. Reed whimpered into Shane's mouth, letting Shane's dominance take over. Shane slowly flipped them over, pulling away for a second. "You sure?"

Reed nodded. "It's fine, keep g-going." He blushed with his statement. Shane smiled gratefully and met Reed's lips again.

They continued until the dawn broke, when most of their clothes had been stripped and both were panting. Pinkish light blessed the room, falling over the objects and creating shadows around them. Reed fell over on to his side and laid his head on Shane's chest. Shane put on arm around Reed's shoulders and the other across his chest. Reed looked up at him, blinking and smiling. "I love you, you know."

Shane grinned. "I love you too."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: There, a little smut. *shrugs*<strong>

**School ends next Friday, thank goodness. Finally time to sleep in the morning! :D**

**Well, hope you enjoyed. For those of you graduating, congrats! **

**Still taking ideas and requests! Leave me your idea!  
><strong>

**Love Lala, xoxo**


	11. Sleep Warm

**Disclaimer:**

"**Glee" belongs to Ryan Murphy**

"**Dalton" belongs to CP Coulter**

* * *

><p><strong>AN: So this is for <strong>_**Persephonesmelody**_**, because she wrote a wonderful drabble based on Gunfire. Go read her stories. She has a story dedicated to Rane drabbles, and they're fantastic! :) I hope you like this dear!**

* * *

><p>Shane fidgeted on the stage. The golden tassel that hung on the right of his head brushed his face irritatingly and he blew it out of the way. The stage lights were hot, he could feel a sweat running down the back of his neck and into his blue robe, and his nose itched. <em>Don't scratch it<em>. He scrunched up his face slightly, hoping to relieve the itch.

Down in the audience, Blaine grinned at his brother's discomfort. From beside him, his mother tutted as he held up the video camera. "He would, during his graduation."

Both brothers were grateful that at least one parent had come to Shane's graduation. After coming out to his parents a few months before, their father had blown up, disowning Shane as well. Their mother had been kinder, though. They knew she didn't really understand, but at least she meant somewhat well. Their father had cut off all ties with his sons, not speaking unless absolutely necessary.

Leaning against the wall in the back of the Dalton Academy auditorium, Reed smiled proudly as he watched his boyfriend fidget on the stage. Shane had graduated with phenomenal grades. He had been accepted to Julliard in New York. Reed couldn't even find words for how proud he was.

He looked around and saw Blaine in the crowd. Blaine felt the look and turned around, seeing Reed. He waved at the empty seat beside him. Reed smiled gratefully and made his way quietly down the aisle to the seat.

Shane saw Reed walking towards his brother and he smiled with aching adoration. He hadn't been able to see Reed in the shadows of the back, but seeing him here now was all Shane needed.

He vaguely realized that the people in front of him were moving. He grinned at Reed, who smiled back and blew him a kiss.

"_Shane Anderson!"_

Shane snapped back to reality. He scurried forward on the stage and grinned as he took the scroll from Dean Ramsey and shook her hand. He turned back to the crowd and fist pumped. The crowd laughed and clapped. Reed and Blaine stood up, jumping up and down.

Shane saw them and smiled. Reed caught his eye. He mouthed, _I love you_.

_I love you too_.

* * *

><p>Shane smiled as he felt Reed snuggle closer under the blankets. He wrapped an arm around Reed and placed a kiss on the curls. The window was cracked open in the corner, letting in the sweet night breeze. Reed smiled, and then twisted so that he was lying on his stomach, staring down at Shane.<p>

After the ceremony, Mrs. Anderson had flown back home to California. Blaine was staying the night at the Hummel's, where Kurt was sick with a fever. Kurt had apologized endlessly about not being able to attend the graduation, but Shane had assured him that it was alright and that his health was more important.

After dinner at one of Shane's favorite restaurants, Reed and Shane had raced back to the Anderson and had gotten cozy, finally getting time alone. Shane hadn't seen Reed for a couple of months. Reed was living in a small but luxurious apartment in New York while interning at his mother's company. He had been horribly busy, and Shane hated to hear him over the phone at night, sounding so exhausted. Even when Reed had been up late at the office, he never forgot to call Shane at night, to tell him that he loved him. Shane wished that he could fly right out to New York and confront his mother for working her son so hard.

Reed had, however, put his foot down when he asked for time off to go to Shane's graduation. His mother had grudgingly complied. Shane knew that Hilde was somewhat disapproving of Shane; a kooky dancer, outgoing and outspoken, unafraid to give his opinion. Little did the couple know that the reason she had allowed them to be together was when she saw how happy her son was with Shane.

"So…you'll be coming out to New York in a couple of months." Reed smiled, reaching out and brushing some of Shane's curls. Shane chuckled. "Yep; hopefully I'll get to see more of you."

Reed smiled sadly. "Hopefully. But you'll be busy with your studies, and, I don't usually have much free time as it is."

Shane frowned. "I wish your mom would give you more of a break. I listen to you over the phone and it hurts, because you always sound so tired." He reached up and cupped Reed's cheek, brushing his thumb across it.

Reed sighed and shrugged. "Well, there's not much that can be done about that."

Shane stared sympathetically at his boyfriend. His eyes held a sad glitter that Shane thought was beautiful.

Reed pursed his lips. "I've got a question."

"Shoot." Shane smiled.

"…have you made plans for boarding at Julliard?" Reed sounded apprehensive.

Shane shook his head. "Haven't thought about that yet."

"Well, I was wondering – since we'd both like to be together more…" Reed looked off to the side uncomfortably. Shane moved his face back again. "Yes?" he asked amusedly.

"Well, I thought you could, you know…move in with me."

Shane raised his eyebrows, looking pleasantly surprised. On the inside, however, he was exploding in fireworks. Able to spend every night falling asleep next to Reed, waking up in the morning with him in his arms, spending days off together – and maybe, after a little while…starting a family. An image of himself and Reed holding children with ballet shoes and paint-covered fingers invaded his mind and he grinned stupidly.

"Shane…you haven't said anything yet."

Shane blinked and looked at Reed. He grinned again and brought Reed's head down, pressing his lips to his own. He pulled away, eyes sparkling. "I think that sounds like a fantastic idea…thank you."

Reed smiled and laid his head down on Shane's chest. "I love you, you know."

Shane chuckled. "Yes I do know. And you know that I love you too."

Reed hummed happily and cuddled further in the Shane. Shane lowered his head. "Go to sleep. You deserve it."

"Damn right I do." Reed sighed and took Shane's hand lying across his stomach. "I'm so proud of you." he murmured.

"Thank you." Shane closed his eyes, absentmindedly stroking Reed's head. "Now go to sleep. Not only do you deserve it, but I think that you need it."

Reed laughed and closed his eyes. "Yes dear." He heard Shane begin to sing softly and he smiled. This was his favorite way to fall asleep.

_Sleep warm, sleep tight, when you turn off the light,_

_Sleep warm, sleep well, my love._

_Rest your head on your pillow, what a lucky pillow,_

_Close to you, so close to you all night._

Of course. This was one of Reed's favorite songs. _Tricky_, Reed thought, amused, as he lost himself in the lyrics and the warmth of Shane's voice.

_Sleep warm, sleep well, let dreams within you dwell,_

_Sweet dreams of me, my love._

_Close your eyes now and kiss me, and whisper you miss me,_

_Sleep tight, sleep well, sleep warm._

Shane looked down and saw that Reed had drifted off to sleep. He smiled. This never failed. And the image of his boyfriend, sleeping peacefully in his arms, never failed to warm his heart up to the brim.

He looked over at the clock; **12:47am**. They would certainly be waking up to a late hour tomorrow. And, to a new future.


	12. Songbird

**Disclaimer:**

"**Glee" belongs to Ryan Murphy**

"**Dalton" belongs to CP Coulter**

* * *

><p><em>For you, there'll be no more crying,<em>

_For you, the sun will be shining,_

They're always there to wipe away the other's tears. When the frustration of work and the pressure in his mother finally breaks out, Shane always takes Reed in his arms, whispering him to sleep. And when Reed wakes up, he always feels somewhat better, because he knows that Shane will always be there for him. And when his homophobic family goes too far and Shane loses it, Reed always calms him down and wipes away his tears. And Shane knows that Reed will always be the only one who can make him feel better when something like that happens.

_And I feel that when I'm with you,_

_It's alright, I know it's right_

Reed had never truly felt uncomfortable around Shane. Well, maybe a little, when they had first met, and he was faced the prospect of someone loving him. But over a short amount of time, Reed had grown to trust the curly-dancer more than anyone.

_To you, I'll give the world_

_to you, I'll never be cold_

Shane would do anything for the boy with the doe eyes and the reddish-gold hair. If Reed had asked, he'd lasso in the moon, the sun, and all of the constellations. But he also knows that Reed is too humble to ask that. He's never really lost his temper with Reed. Sure, they'd had their spats, but it had always ended with apologies and kisses. Shane would be forever grateful that he had been blessed with the angel that loved him back for some reason.

_'Cause I feel that when I'm with you,_

_It's alright, I know it's right._

Shane knows he could tell Reed anything he was feeling, without fear of anger or coldness. Reed would either agree or gently give his own opinion. Shane knows he can completely let go around his boyfriend, be himself and know that Reed will accept him.

_And the songbirds are singing,_

_Like they know the score,_

_And I love you, I love you, I love you,_

_Like never before._

"I love you." had once been a phrase that Reed thought he'd never say for real, or hear for real. So when Shane had finally admitted it to him, it was an out-of-body experience. He remembered the one quote from Moulin Rogue: "_The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return_." Never before had something been so true

_And I wish you all the love in the world,_

_But most of all, I wish it from myself._

Shane didn't like the fact that Reed had remained so devoid of love until he had arrived at Dalton. He didn't like the fact that no one had truly appreciated the young artist until he had met the Windsors – until he had arrived. But now, Reed was surrounded by friends, and a boyfriend who would do the impossible for him.

_And the songbirds keep singing,_

_Like they know the score,_

_And I love you, I love you, I love you,_

_Like never before, like never before._

They save the words for each other only. Three simple words, three short syllables, that hold all of meaning in the world. To know that they care about you, to know that they can be trusted, that they will do anything for you.

And to say them back is to tell them the same thing. To give your heart for another to hold, to love or break.

Neither Shane nor Reed would break the hearts they held if their lives depended on it.

Just to love each other is enough for them.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: (shrugs) just a quick songfic. I couldn't get this song out of my head when I heard the Glee version on my iPod today. Naya singing it is beautiful, and the whole scene was fantastic. So, I know it's crap, but I hope you enjoyed.<strong>

**Love Lala, xoxo**


	13. Rome: Part 1

**Disclaimer:**

"**Glee" belongs to Ryan Murphy**

"**Dalton" belongs to CP Coulter**

* * *

><p>"Gentlemen…<em>welcome to Rome!"<em>

The Dalton boys all scrambled to the windows of the car while the twins remained seated, smiling at their friends. Kurt gasped as they passed the Trevi Fountain. "Oh, it's beautiful!"

Reed agreed. The sky was a clear blue with no traces of clouds. The streets were only slightly crowded, making for easy passing. Two weeks in the City of Fountains with his friends. And…one very special friend.

Said special friend had his nose pressed up to the glass on his right, eyes wide and expression resembling an eager puppy's. Reed laughed at Shane's awestruck face. Shane turned to look at Reed, smiling a smile he saved especially for Reed. Reed felt his cheeks blooming with color and heat and he lowered his eyes, smiling, hoping not to hear any retching noises from the other boys. Luckily, there were none.

The car rolled up to a building that advertised Rome's famed architecture, yet still looked rather new. "Our new penthouse." the twins chorused. "You'll have to share rooms, there aren't enough for a single for all of us, but they're still exquisite."

The boys piled out of the car, all gazing at the scenery and the building. The twin's butler exited the car and went to get out the luggage. The twins walked inside, the boys following.

The lobby had expensive creamy and gold tiling, with chestnut brown paneling. The tables and chairs were newly furnished, but held an old century air to them. It was the perfect combination.

The twins led them to the elevator, where everyone squashed inside. Reed blushed upon being pressed up against Shane's chest, but couldn't help reveling the warmth and safety that came when he was in said position. Shane noticed this too, and grinned at Reed's blush.

The boys gaped upon entering the living room that the elevator opened on. The paneling was still there, but the carpet was creamy and fluffy. Chocolate brown couches were placed in a square around a flat screen TV. Ahead of them was a small kitchen, with the same tiling as the lobby. A hallway branched out ahead to the right, undoubtedly leading to their rooms.

The boys made themselves right at home, flopping on the couch, and kicking off their shoes. Kurt snuggled up against Blaine, while Reed was sitting closely to Shane. "Our luggage should be up in a couple minutes, but for now, let's see who's rooming with who." the twins announced

The boys perked up.

Ethan pulled out the iPhone he and his brother shared and peered at the note they had made with room pairings. "Okay…Alice and the White Rabbit."

Kurt smirked up at Blaine who winked. Wes pretended to throw up over the side of the couch. "We'd better be getting a complementary set of earmuffs!"

"The Hare and Hatter, naturally." Wes and David high-fived.

"Da-de-da, um…the Knight and the Queen of Hearts!"

A chorus of _oohs _and _uh-oh's _rose around the room. Dwight stole a nervous glance at Charlie, who rolled his eyes in response.

"And…the Little Bat and the Dormouse!"

Reed flushed brilliantly whilst Shane's eyes bugged out of his head. The boys grinned at each other from around the room.

The butler came in and whispered something the twins, who nodded and thanked him. "Well'p! Our luggage is on the stairwell! Let's gather it up and settle down!"

* * *

><p>"Are you sure you're comfortable with this?"<p>

Reed sighed and stuck his head out of the bathroom. Shane was standing at his bed, putting his clothes in the dresser. "It's _fine_ Shane! Stop asking!"

Shane merely shrugged and Reed disappeared again. Unloading the last of his clothes, he shoved his suitcase into the corner and flopped on the bed, hands behind his head, eyes closed. This couldn't get any better.

A few minutes later, Reed came out of the bathroom, having finally finished setting up his numerous products for his hair and skin. Luckily, there were shelves on the wall beside the sink, giving him plenty of room. He walked to the window and opened it, letting the smell of the crisp day, the murmur of passerby below, and the twitters of pigeons filter into the room. "Well Shane, what do you wanna do?"

Hearing no reply, Reed turned to Shane. His expression softened when he saw that Shane had fallen asleep. He wasn't surprised. Shane hadn't gotten much sleep on the thirteen hour flight from Cleveland, to Boston, to London, and then to Rome. He'd been playing Call of Duty with Wes, David, and Blaine, while Reed, Kurt, and Dwight, had been sleeping.

Reed shook his head fondly at the dancer. This could be better than he had thought.

* * *

><p>After dinner, the group returned to the penthouse, cuddling up on the massive sofas with bowls of popcorn, ice cream, and bottles of soda. Wes pulled out <em>Lady and the Tramp<em>, smirking as he did so. "Perfect for Italy, don't you think?"

Reed rolled his eyes and bit his lip, trying to figure out where to sit. Shane noticed him looking and stretched his arm across the back of the sofa, trying to catch Reed's eye. "Wanna sit here?"

Reed nodded, a little half-smile appearing. He walked over the sofa, stumbling as he did so. Shane caught his arms, even while sitting down and guided him to the couch. Reed flushed and pulled his legs up, taking a small piece of popcorn from the bowl between him and Shane.

The movie was good – Shane couldn't remember the last time he'd seen it. He didn't pay much attention though; his eyes were filled with strawberry curls and dimples. He closed his eyes when Reed laughed, letting the sound fill his head. Not that he didn't have it already memorized. But it was still wonderful to hear all the same.

When the movie was over, Charlie, Dwight, and Reed wandered off to bed, Dwight chattering about how Italy was relatively vampire-safe, due to all the garlic used in Italian foods. The rest of the boys stayed to have an epic pillow fight. Blaine, Kurt, Wes, and David were building a fort in the kitchen, while the twins, Shane made shelter behind the couch.

The twins handed Shane a Nerf gun with solemnness. "Shane Matthew Anderson, do you so swear to protect and uphold our territory, and to lay down your life to protect your comrades?"

Shane nodded "I so swear."

Wes let out an Indian cry and the battle began. Shane jumped out into the living area, shooting at his brother. Kurt ducked behind an armchair and curled up, hiding himself completely. The twins ducked into some of the spare rooms in the hallway, Shane following, still shooting at the others. They followed, yelling and crying.

* * *

><p>Reed smiled as he snuggled down in his blankets, warmth covering him. His eyes fluttered shut and he sighed contentedly. He was planning on waiting up for Shane to ask him how the battle went, but he was <em>so tired<em>…

Reed squealed as Kurt grabbed him. "Gotcha!"

"Kurt, put me down!" Reed shouted indignantly. Kurt shook his head grinning. "Nope! Part of our plan! When they all went upstairs, I capture you!"

Kurt first tied a scarf around Reed's mouth, so he couldn't shriek anymore. Next came the hands behind Reed's back, and the third one over his eyes. "Perfect."

Kurt led Reed along the corridor, Reed not attempting to break away, knowing that with his hands tied and his eyes covered, he wasn't going to get very far without maiming himself. Kurt opened the door to one of the bedrooms – Reed couldn't tell which one. Kurt led Reed to the bathroom. He sat Reed down in the bath and tied another scarf around his feet. "There you go!" He pulled the shower curtain to cover the bath, bunched a few towels near the crack under the door, blocking the light, and then flounced out of the bathroom.

Reed sighed as he waited for someone to find him.

* * *

><p>Soon, the rumpus spilled downstairs. Shane took a diving leap for the hideout and slipped in grinning ear to ear. The twins slid in behind him. Evan peered out of the tent, jumping out just in time for a bullet to hit the wall behind him. A piece of paper was attached to the bullet. Evan snatched it and opened it.<p>

_Hi Losers! :D_

_We've captured the Dormouse and hidden him away in the penthouse. Any room, bathroom, closet, rooftop, etc. is possible for his hiding spot. You have one hour to find him – if you do, you can take him back to his bedroom (unless we recapture him) If you don't, then we will keep him in our hideout and you'll have to either:_

_A) Bargain with us to get him back_

_B) Steal him back under our noses (highly unlikely)_

_-Good luck! (NOT!)_

"We've got to save him!" Shane whispered loudly. The twins looked at each other, doing that eerie silent communication that they so often did. A minute later, they turned back to Shane. "Okay Bat: here's the plan. We will lead them back upstairs, but then you break away stealthily and search for the Dormouse. If we come back down, we'll whistle again, and you hide out in another room and shoot as we come down: got it?" Shane nodded furiously, desperate to go save Reed.

"Okay…let's go!"

The twins barged out of the couches and took the other team by surprise, yelling and shooting. "Oh no you didn't!" David shouted, he and Wes sprinting out. The twins ran upstairs, flanked by Wes and David. Shane crept to the bar the separated the kitchen from the living room. "Are you guys gonna come out and fight, or are you two busy making out?"

"Sorry if I kill your brother." Kurt muttered. He burst out of the tent and fired at Shane, who laughed tauntingly and skipped up the hall towards the twins.

Soon, Kurt and Blaine were involved in the epic battle that the twins had created. Shane snuck away quietly to begin investigating the rooms. _Nope, not in our room…not in the bathroom, let's see…Kurt and Blaine's room? Heh, surprised the bed isn't messed up already…where is he…__**Oh no**_.

Shane stopped outside the door to Chaz and Dwight's room. He took a deep breath, sure that this was where they were hiding Reed. He flinched, remembering Chaz's threat not to wake them up – reminding them all that he slept with _The Bat_ under his pillow.

His hand reached for the doorknob and twisted it, opening up to the dark room. He breathed through his nose, his dancer feet tiptoeing quietly on the polished floorboards. Dwight was lying on his stomach, snoring like there was no tomorrow. Chaz was sleeping a little more elegantly, head buried underneath his pillows. Shane squinted at the faint light coming from underneath the bathroom door and smirked. So that's where his little Dormouse was. _Don't worry, I'm coming to save you_.

Shane pushed open the door, wincing as the light entered the room. He stepped in quietly and closed the door. He turned around, observing the small room. The shower curtain was pulled past the bath. He reached out and pulled it back.

Reed was curled up in the tub, asleep. Shane smiled adoringly at him, then realizing that Reed's eyes and mouth were covered with scarves. His hands were tied behind his back, and his feet were tied as well. Shane pouted. No one was going to do that to his Dormouse and get away with it.

He leaned down and untied the scarf that covered Reed's eyes. He then tapped Reed gently on the shoulder. Reed blinked sleepily and peered up at him. Shane put his finger to his lips and Reed nodded, eyes widening. Shane untied the scarf around his mouth.

"I knew you would come." Reed whispered, smiling. Shane felt himself blush and his lips curled up into a grin. He reached down and scooped Reed up out of the tub. Reed squeaked slightly. "Put your arms around my neck." Shane murmured. Reed obediently did so, blushing. "Why?"

"Because we're in Chaz and Dwight's room and we don't want to risk waking them up. Ergo, we don't want you tripping on anything in the room."

"Too late."

Shane spun around at the sound of Dwight's voice, Reed nearly hitting his head. Dwight was leaning against the doorway, water gun in hand, rubbing his head. "…why?"

"Kurt tied me up and hid me here!" Reed squeaked. Shane nodded. "I was just coming to rescue him." Reed flushed at the word _rescue_.

Dwight rolled his eyes. "Get out, before I spray you both."

"Will do." Shane walked past Dwight quickly and tiptoed across the bedroom, pushing open the door with his hip. When they were out in the hallway, Shane carried Reed triumphantly back to their room.

When they reached the room, Shane closed the door with his foot and set Reed down on the bed. Reed waited patiently while Shane untied his hands and then his feet. "There you go. Sorry about that."

Reed shook his head. "It's fine. I'll admit I was a little surprised, but I wouldn't have put it past them to do it."

Shane shrugged. "I guess. I'm not sure whether they'll try and do it again, so here." Shane grabbed a walkie-talkie from his pocket and handed it to Reed. "They come in here again, just call for help, and I'll be there."

Reed looked down, rosy cheeked. "Okay."

Shane smiled down at the angelic boy, not wanting to ever take his eyes off him.

The sounds of battle erupted from up the hall. Shane glanced at the door and then back at Reed. Reed smiled. "Go on, be a hero."

Shane chuckled. "Good night!" He pranced off the bed and to the door, smiling one last time at Reed before closing it.

**AN: This is Part 1 of the story I had originally planned. We're leaving for vacation tonight (no WiFi for twelve hours *shudders*) and I wanted to get this out.**

**Love you all!**

**Love Lala, xoxo  
><strong>


	14. Storm

**Disclaimer:**

"**Glee" belongs to Ryan Murphy**

"**Dalton" belongs to CP Coulter**

* * *

><p><em>July 27<em>_th__, 1998; New York City; The van Kamp Apartment_

Reed snuggled under the covers in his bed. He had a huge bed for a five year-old, but it had railings on the side, for fear of him rolling over in his sleep, which was a predictable idea for someone of his clumsiness.

There was a snuffling sound and Reed felt something jump up on the bed with him. The weight collapsed on his left and he giggled, turning over. "Coco! You snore too loudly!"

The St. Bernard puppy paid no mind to her young master as she settled down and curled up next to Reed. Reed rolled his eyes. "Okay, you can sleep with me tonight." His mommy didn't like it when Coco, or her mom came up to sleep; it got dog fur all over the comforter. But Reed enjoyed it. It was nice knowing that there was someone there to protect you while you were sleeping. Reed threw the blankets over Coco and smiled at his sleepy puppy.

Suddenly part of the room lit up with a white light. Reed blinked curiously at the wall he was facing, wondering what could've possibly made that light. A rumble in the distance made him tense. What was this? What was going on?

Reed sat up in bed, rubbing his eyes with his fists and yawning. His pajama sleeves were too long, and the silk wasn't warming really. Just slippery and cool. His curls flopped over his eyes and he blew them away, irritated.

Another flash erupted and Reed shrieked when he saw a man in a coat standing in the corner. He dove back under the covers and hid his head under his pillow. Maybe, if the man didn't see him, he would go away! The boom came again, louder, and Reed whimpered. Coco whined and shifted closer. Reed curled up tightly against her, squeezing his teddy bear tightly to his chest, a tear running down his face and on to the sheets.

The storm continued full-blast for another hour. Reed spent the time crying and wondering if the man would come over. "Mommy!" he cried. He knew his mommy didn't like being woken up in the middle of the night unless it was an emergency. But if there was a robber in his room, she should probably know.

It took four tries, with Reed's cries growing into screams before Hilde van Kamp rushed into the room. "Reed, sweetie, what's the matter?"

Reed popped up from under the mess of pillows and Hilde tutted inwardly at the tear streaks on his face. They were supposed to have a shoot in the afternoon. How was she going to get rid of those in time.

"Mommy! There were all these lights and booms, and then I saw a man in the corner and I thought he was going to kidnap me and I was just so scared!" Reed lowered his head, tears dripping down his face.

Hilde sighed and snatched a tissue from the dresser, crossing the room to sit on her son's bed. She should've known that Reed would be afraid of thunderstorms – he was afraid of his own shadow for crying out loud! "Where did you see the man?" she asked as she wiped away the tears.

Reed sniffled. "Over there." he said, pointing to the coatrack in the corner. Hilde laughed when she saw. "Reed it's just a trick of the light." She walked over and took the hat and coat off the rack. "See?"

Reed squinted for a second before nodding. "Oh." Another crash erupted and he whimpered loudly, staring at the window. Hilde sighed once more. "Come along, you can sleep with me tonight."

Reed looked surprised. It wasn't often when his mother did something like this. "You sure Mommy?"

Hilde nodded. "Yes I'm sure, now c'mon!"

Reed hopped out of bed obediently, still clutching his teddy bear. Coco followed her young master at his heels. Hilde rolled his eyes. It wasn't that she didn't like dogs – Coco's mother had been her own dog when she was younger. No, it was the fact that they could get so…_clingy_. And they got hair all over the place…ugh.

Reed crawled into his mother's bed, his head sinking into the pillow. Coco began to climb up beside him but Hilde pulled her down firmly. "No."

"But Mommy! What if she gets cold?" Reed asked, worried about his puppy's wellbeing.

Hilde sighed heavily. She left to room to a supply closet down the hall and pulled out an old blanket. She returned and set the blanket down beside the bed. "There. Now she'll be comfy." She gave Reed a quick peck on the forehead. "No go to sleep. Thunder and lightning can't hurt you."

Reed nodded. "Okay." He closed his eyes and flinched when his mother turned off the lights. He felt her climb into bed beside him and within a few moments she was sleeping.

Reed stayed awake for a little while longer, head under the covers and pillows, still scared to face the thunderstorm.

* * *

><p>And even after twelve years, the fear still had not dissipated.<p>

Reed was curled up in bed, eyes shut tightly. It was worse now that he had a bed by the window. The lightning flashed brighter than ever and he whimpered, burrowing under the cotton. He didn't even have anything with him. He was too old to have a teddy bear, and Coco was back in New York. Kurt was in Blaine's room for the night.

Reed thought it was strange. Every time there had been a thunderstorm, one of the Windsors would come in and lie beside him until he'd fallen asleep. Reed found it embarrassing, but he never protested. He always slept better when he knew there was someone watching over him. Whether it be both the twins on either side of him, or Dwight leaning against the wall with his hawk eyes, or Kurt simply lying there, there was always someone there.

But now there wasn't.

And Reed was scared out of his mind.

Outside the room, Dwight was leaning against the wall. He hated the fact that Reed was behind that door scared to death. It reminded Dwight painfully of the night that Alan had crawled into his bed one night during a storm. Dwight had simply wrapped his arms around his brother, saying that he would always protect him. Dwight winced. From the moment he met Reed, he had been struck by the similarity between him and Alan. Since then, he couldn't help but have a protective streak for Reed. He wished he could go in right then and calm him down, but the Tweedles had stopped him, saying they had something better in mind.

Finally, he heard footsteps coming up the hall and he sighed in relief. "Thank Castiel. That took forever."

The Tweedles rounded the corner, one Shane Anderson squashed between them. "Seriously guys, tell me what's going on." he said, shaking himself from their grasp.

"You see Little Bat." Ethan began.

"Your Dormouse," Evan continued.

"is scared-"

"-horrified-"

"-completely terrified-"

"-of thunderstorms."

As if on cue, lightning lit up the windows in the halls and Shane shivered momentarily. But it was quickly taken over by concern. "Is he okay?"

"Nope." Ethan smirked.

"Usually when this happens, one of us goes in there with him." Evan nodded.

"But since _you're here_ – "

"-it will make the Dormouse feel more safe!"

Shane blinked and then grinned. "Okay!"

And he promptly bounded into Reed's room.

The twins grinned. "And now we go back to bed."

Dwight yawned. "You sure it was a good idea putting Shane in there?"

"It was a brilliant idea Knight!" Ethan scolded as the three walked back down the hall towards their rooms.

"The Dormouse feels safest with the Little Bat." Evan explained.

"And he loves him. And him loves he."

"See how it all works out?"

Dwight merely shook his head.

* * *

><p>Once he was inside the darkened room, Shane looked around. The room was scattered with half-finished paintings. Shane had a mini freak out when he saw a face on the ground, but he relaxed when he saw it was him – wait what? It was a painting of him, and unlike the others, this one was done.<p>

Shane was busy trying to figure out the meaning of this when a rumble of thunder echoed in the room and there was a sharp whimper from the blankets on Reed's bed.

As Shane walked over carefully, he wondered how in the world Reed was managing to stay alive under the blankets. There was probably a dozen!

He placed a gentle hand on the blankets and shook them. "_Reed?"_

There was a squeal and Reed jumped, eyes as wide as dinner plates. His hair was askew and Shane's eyes honed in on the tears falling down his cheeks. He smiled softly. "Hey."

Reed's hand flew up to his face to desperately try and wipe away the tears. "Oh god Shane, I'm sorry, I-I don't want you to see me like this - !"

Shane sat down on the bed and gently pulled Reed's frantic hands away. He reached up and gently wiped away the tear tracks, smiling understandingly at Reed. Reed lowered his eyes, ashamed of letting brave, confident Shane see him like this. Another flash of lightning appeared and Reed shivered.

Shane grinned. "Here, c'mon." He lifted up the blankets and strode across the room to Reed's closet. Reed scrunched up his face. "Shane what are you doing?"

"I'll tell you in a moment!" Shane's head peeped out of the doorway. "Grab your blankets and pillows! We're going to have a sleepover in here!"

Reed cocked his head to the side as Shane disappeared again. Then he shook his head, and amused smile playing on the corner of his lips. Just another reason to love Shane.

Shane had hung one of the thinner blankets from the clothes railing. He piled the pillows against the wall and put down all of the blankets. He went back into the room and grinned. "All set!" He scooped Reed up in his arms and proceeded towards the closet. Reed fought for a brief second before giving up and falling against Shane. "You're so cheesy." he giggled.

Shane set Reed down on the blankets and closed the door. He then flopped down beside him and pulled the blanket over them. "Comfy?"

Reed rolled his eyes. "Yes Shane." He flipped over on to his side so that he was facing Shane, who grinned and turned over as well. "Feeling better?"

Reed nodded. "A bit yeah." Another rumble of thunder erupted and Reed flinched, inching closer to Shane. Shane noticed this and smiled, sliding his arm under Reed's head. Reed's head lolled into the crook between Shane's arm and his shoulder, blushing. His hand reached up faintly and fisted some of Shane's jacket. Shane rested his head against Reed's hair, arms around him protectively, protecting him from all possible harm or evil.

They fell asleep that way, curled into each other. And Reed couldn't remember the last time he'd slept so well.

* * *

><p>When they woke up, it was to Kurt peeking in to check on them. Sunlight flooded in, dappled from the leftover rain on the glass. Reed blinked sleepily, a crease on his cheek from where it had been pressed into Shane's collar. In turn, some of Shane's face was marked with swirls from Reed's hair.<p>

Kurt grinned. "Just making sure you two were okay." Then he closed the door and flew off down the hall.

Shane shook his head, freeing his matted black curls. Then he looked down at Reed, who was rubbing his eyes and yawning. Shane smiled dreamily and laid his head back down on the pillow. His arm was asleep from where Reed had been lying on it. "Here, can you move your head for a second? My arm's asleep."

"Oh yeah sorry!"

Shane lifted his arm and stretched it. "Reed it's fine! Not a problem." When he had finished he lay back down and smiled at Reed as if he were an angel. Reed blushed, but smiled. "Why did you come in last night? Any of the other boys could've."

Shane frowned, worried. "Did you want someone else to come?"

Reed shook his head wildly. "No! No, I was just…curious. I…liked it that you came." His blush darkened.

Shane smiled. "Well, the other boys thought you would like it better if I came. And…I wanted to be with you."

Reed blinked slowly at Shane, not taking his admiring gaze off Shane's. They stayed that way for a bit longer simply gazing.

And then Shane leaned just a teeny bit closer.

And so did Reed.

Close enough so that they were forehead to forehead with each other, their hot breath ghosting the face of the other. "Shane…" Reed whispered, so quietly. Shane leaned forward a bit more, his lips brushing Reed's gently. Reed pressed forward, turning the innocent brush into a full, sweet kiss. Shane gasped slightly and reached around to lace his hand through the curls at the nape of Reed's neck. Reed sighed.

After a few minutes, they pulled away, eyes wide with adoration, amazement, and love.

"I love you Reed." Shane said, his hand caressing Reed's cheek.

Reed smiled. "I love you too Shane."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: So this was based off a question on CP Coulter's tumblr. I hope you enjoyed it!<strong>

**Love Lala, xoxo**


	15. Handcuffs

**Disclaimer:**

"**Glee" belongs to Ryan Murphy**

"**Dalton" belongs to CP Coulter**

* * *

><p>"Why didn't you put it on the nightstand?"<p>

"I was distracted!"

"Oh, c'mon!"

"What? You're very sexy!"

Reed huffed and adjusted himself further so that the handcuffs didn't hurt his arms. Of course this would happen. The first time he and Shane try and have some kinky sex, Shane loses the key to the handcuffs. Naturally.

At the moment, Shane was scrambling around their room, naked and in a panic. What if they had completely lost it? What if they had to get a locksmith? Oh shit, that would be awkward. What if the locksmith liked naked Reed? What if Reed liked him back? What if they had a secret affair behind Shane's back? Oh God…

"Shane!"

Shane looked over at Reed and winced when he saw his boyfriend shift uncomfortably. He was handcuffed around the middle bedpost of their bed. The sheets were in a tangle around his legs. He looked absolutely sexy. He didn't realize that Reed was talking to him until Reed said his name again. "Oh, um…yeah?"

Reed rolled his eyes and smiled. "We'll find the key, don't worry…what did you do with it again?"

Shane rubbed his neck and sighed. "I just put it on the sheets. Then we…did it, and they got all messed up. It could've flown anywhere."

"What if it's in the sheets?" Reed suggested. Shane shrugged. "Can't hurt to look." He yanked back the sheets and shook them out, sighing when he heard nothing. "Nope, not here." He turned back to Reed, only to be faced with the full vision before him.

Reed had pulled his legs up a bit to hide himself, face burning scarlet. Sweat made his curls stick to his forehead, and his was smiling gently. Shane sighed and sat down next to him, brushing his face. "You're so beautiful you know."

Reed smiled, leaning into the hand. "I'm not beautiful. But thank you."

Shane sighed. "What can I do to convince you that you are?"

Reed shrugged. "Nothing."

Shane sighed once more and kissed Reed chastely. He threw the blankets back over and continued his search. Maybe Reed would realize one day how special he was. And Shane was going to do whatever it takes to help him believe.

* * *

><p>Two hours, thirty-seven minutes, and forty-five seconds later, Shane found the key. It had flown in one of Shane's dance shoes by the door. He sighed in relief and turned back to his sleeping boyfriend. How Reed had managed to fall asleep, he had now idea. He must've been tired. Not that Shane didn't blame him. He quietly unlocked the handcuffs and Reed blinked sleepily. "Found it, did you?"<p>

Shane smiled. "Yep." Reed untangled his arms and wound them around a few times. "Ahh…" he sighed, settling into Shane's arms. Shane kissed his neck delicately. "Well, I don't know about you, but I'm exhausted."

Reed nodded. "Me too. Let's sleep in tomorrow. I'll tell Mom I turned off my alarm in my sleep."

Shane smiled as his eyes drifted shut. "That sounds like a good plan."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I'M SORRY FOR BEING GONE SO LONG! :( Some stuffs been going on with me the past couple weeks, and I apologize.<br>**

**But I'm back now :) I'll try and post some oneshots in the next few days, or get the new chapter of Cirque out. I'm sorry this is so short. It was kinda sudden.  
><strong>

**Thank you for waiting :)**

**Love Lala, xoxo  
><strong>


	16. Anderson Van Kamp

**Disclaimer:**

**"Glee" belongs to Ryan Murphy**

**"Dalton" belongs to CP Coulter**

* * *

><p>Micah thanked the girl at the counter and picked up his coffee. "Thank you again Mr. Randall." the girl smiled and Micah nodded. She must have seen the name on his credit card. He walked over to the condiments counter and sprinkled some nutmeg into his coffee.<p>

He's visiting New York for a book convention, where tomorrow, he'll be signing autographs – no doubt for lots of girls. He knows that in his small home in San Francisco there'll be a load of fanmail; young authors asking for advice, fans complimenting him, and young in-the-closets hoping for help.

Those he answered. Every single one of them. He put his heart and thought into them and helped them the best he could. It was the least he could do.

His first stories had been angsty and heartbroken stories – sold out quickly because of the emotion that had been poured into them, so real you practically feel it radiating off the pages. Micah transferred the pain he felt at Shane's leaving into a computer, into a piece of paper, a typewriter, any writing thing he could get his hands on.

Then, the pain had slowly ebbed away. The stories turned to more love and hope. Instead of the pessimistic future he had seen for himself when he saw Shane leave, he saw light – another chance at loving someone. He had left his heart behind with Shane when the coming out fiasco had occurred. But now, he had that bit back. He had the right to love anyone he wanted. And he had the satisfaction of knowing that Shane was in good hands, and had someone that would love him as much as Micah had.

Then he had met Jonathon. Jonathon was another version of Shane, and maybe that was why Micah had first been attracted to him. Then there were the quirks that Shane didn't have, John did have, and Micah loved. John was thoughtful and romantic and at the moment, he was at home in San Fran, awaiting his boyfriend's return on Saturday.

Yes life had been bad. But then it had turned around for the better.

Micah sighed happily and inhaled the smell of the coffee, when someone tapped him on the shoulder. "Excuse me?"

Micah turned. There was a teenage girl behind him, probably fifteen. She had dark curly hair and big brown eyes. There was a curious expression on her face. "Did I hear your name was Randall?"

Micah nodded. "Yes, you did."

The girl grinned. "I was hoping to catch you at the convention this weekend, but I had dance practice." Micah noticed the black bag slung over her shoulder that featured a pair of ballet slippers and threads that spelled out _Lucie_. He nodded. "Well you caught me here."

She stuck out her hand. "I'm Lucie." Micah shook it. "Pleased to meet you. Always nice to meet a fan."

"How much longer are you in NY?" She asked, shifting her bag on her shoulder and taking a sip of her coffee.

"'til Friday. Then back to San Fran." Micah picked his coffee up off the counter and brushed back his hair. "Cool." Lucie smiled.

"I actually wanted to ask you something…" Lucie shifted her feet nervously. "…about your stories."

"Shoot." The two walked out of the Starbucks and into the street. "Where are you headed?" he asked.

"Worth and Broadway. You?"

"Broome and Broadway."

The two start walking down, slowly, weaving through the crowd. "What was it you wanted to ask me?"

Lucie bit her lip. "It's about your first book, _Green Marble Eyes_."

Micah nodded. The story had flown out of him when he had returned from Ohio. He had cried during it but it had finished. Later, he had sent it to a company, it was published, and he got his start. The title had come from the sight of Shane's eyes in his head, like stones themselves, the green and gray…

He shook his head. "Yep."

"How does it end? Because Samuel chose Ryan over Michael, and Michael runs away. You never specified what happened to him, and I feel bad."

Micah froze. The story hadn't been an inspiration – it had been a memory and pain. He had put him, Shane, and Reed into the shoes of his characters and poured out his heart.

But now look at him. Here was him – Micah, or Michael – alive and well, and happy.

"He got his happily ever after – just not with Sam, like he'd hoped. Don't worry about him. He's fine." Micah chuckled over the irony of the sentence.

Lucie smiled, looking reassured. "Good. I'm glad. I was worried for a while…what do you suppose happened to Ryan and Sam?"

Micah frowned. "I'm not sure. They were happy when Michael left, but they've left now too. I don't know what happened to them."

Lucie smiled. "They're fine. I know they are."

Micah grinned. "What makes you so sure about that?"

"My name is Lucy Anderson van Kamp."


	17. Angel

**Disclaimer:**

**"Glee" belongs to Ryan Murphy**

**"Dalton" belongs to CP Coulter**

* * *

><p>Shane threw on his coat with a flourish. He was sick of this silence. He was tired of coming home from the club at night and having no voicemails. He had gone over to Reed's apartment several times during the week to try and talk to him, but Reed had ignored the doorbell. But Shane couldn't stand this anymore; he couldn't stand being away from Reed.<p>

He already had his plan in his head. Go over tonight; simply tell Reed, if he was in the apartment, that he wasn't leaving until he heard Shane out. If the door remained closed, he'd stay outside, waiting until Reed had no choice but to open the door, or come home from wherever he was. Shane wasn't coming back to his apartment until he had groveled enough to get Reed's forgiveness. Which he didn't deserve anyway.

What an idiot he had been! A mindless, thoughtless idiot! He wanted what Reed wanted! Why had he blown up? The look on his face…it made Shane's heart break.

He pulled on a scarf and yanked open the door, not hearing the doorbell until the door was wide open.

Reed was standing there, hugging himself in the cold. There were tear streaks on his cheeks and frustration in his eyes.

Shane was speechless for a moment, until he managed, "Reed, what –?"

"Shane," Reed began, a sob already rising in his throat. "Please listen. I'm sorry that I overreacted the way I did. It wasn't fair of me to do that. I'm so sorry – "

Shane didn't let him finish. He grabbed Reed's shoulders and pulled him into a passionate kiss. Reed immediately melted into it, wrapping his arms around Shane's neck and moaning.

Shane pulled away after a few seconds. "No Reed, I'm sorry. I was such an asshole to you when I should've been thinking of you. I'm so sorry for getting angry at something that's nothing to get angry at. I was being a jerk to you and all I want is for you to be comfortable and happy, and I'm sorry I made you think otherwise…I have no right to ask for forgiveness, but…"

Reed put a finger to his lips. "I-it's ok Shane…I actually came to show you why I didn't want to d-do it."

Shane snapped out of post-receiving-forgiveness amazement to look at Reed's pale face. There was nervousness in his face, and…fear.

Shane stepped aside and ushered Reed in. "Of course, c'mon."

Reed walked straight to Shane's bedroom and motioned for him to close the door. Shane did so and turned to look at Reed, who was standing at the foot of Shane's bed, shaking slightly.

"Reed, if you don't want to show me, that's fine – "

"No! I want to, I _have _to!" A couple tears streaked down his cheeks. "As long as I know that I can trust you with this. It's…pretty private, to say the least."

"Reed, why do you think that you can't trust me?" Shane sat down at the edge of the bed and tried his best to meet Reed's eyes.

"It's not that, it's just…I don't know how you will react. I've never shown anyone…ever."

Shane reached up and traced his fingers along Reed's cheek. Even in the moment, Reed colored slightly.

"Reed, if you want to show me, please show me. I promise I won't laugh, or freak out, or anything, I promise. I love you too much to let anything get in the way."

Reed took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He nodded to himself and began to shrug off his sweater. It flew to the corner of the room and the white button up underneath was shed too. Shane gaped.

There was a mass of bandages on Reed's back, starting from underneath his arms to his hips, thin enough to be concealed easily under clothing, and thick enough to conceal whatever was underneath.

Reed's fingers reached up behind him to try and find the knot that was at the bottom of the bandages. Shane reached out unconsciously and began to untie it. "S'alright, I got it." he murmured. Reed's fingers froze and dropped to his sides, as he mentally prepared himself for what was about to happen.

The bandages fell to the floor soundlessly. There were a few moments of silence as Shane stared awestruck at the sight in front of him. His lips were moving, but no sound came out of his mouth. Reed hugged himself and lowered his head, knowing that what he had just done could endanger them to the point of death. But, he couldn't help but admit that it felt…good, letting someone other than his kind see them.

Shane finally managed to speak. "…_wings_." he whispered hoarsely. Reed's head twisted slightly to the side, blinking in the light coming in from the window. The snowy wings fluttered slightly, stretching. They were shaped like those of a swallow, and the bottom edges crossed slightly. Reed sighed and nodded.

Shane's fingers reached around to Reed's arm and gently turned him around. Reed bit his lip and stared at the floor, afraid of seeing a panicked look in Shane's eyes. Instead, he felt two fingers on his chin firmly raise his head to meet Shane's gaze.

Shane was smiling, proud and wonderstruck. "I always knew you were an angel…" he murmured, letting his fingers drift over Reed's cheekbone. "Didn't know it was in the literal sense too…" he chuckled at Reed's blush. "This is why you…wouldn't, well…have sex?"

Reed nodded. "We're not supposed to. It…endangers us. We're not even supposed to fall in love…or be gay for that matter."

"So you're breaking all of the rules by being here, right now, with me? And you have been this entire time?" Shane's voice was simply curious. Reed nodded again, looking at his bare feet.

"I don't know what to say, honestly Reed." Shane mumbled. "They're…beautiful." Reed's blush darkened. "So you you're…an angel? That is what you are, right?"

"Yeah…does this…change anything?" Shane was struck by the anxiety in Reed's voice. He chuckled, cupping Reed's face in his hands. He lifted them to meet his eyes.

"Reed van Kamp, I want you to listen to me right now. You are the most beautiful, talented, loving person I've ever met. Before I met you, I had…" Shane sighed and continued, "…all I had, before I met you, was my dancing and my brother. And, dancing isn't dancing without inspiration. And…" Shane took a shuddering breath and brushed his fingers along Reed's cheek. "…you are my inspiration. You became it the moment I met you. The thought of you makes me breath, gives me life …" He closed his eyes, still breathing raggedly.

Reed reached up and took Shane's hand. "Shane…I…I don't even know what to say." Reed closed his eyes and Shane could feel him trembling. He placed a gentle hand on his shoulder and Reed shuddered, Shane's fingers brushing dangerously close to the snowy feathers. Shane jerked away. "…sorry."

"No!" Reed clutched his hand again. "I'm sorry, it's just…I'm not used to this…being this close, to someone…like this…" Reed drew in a shuddering breath.

Shane blinked, staring at Reed. The moonlight was shining on his curls, giving them a silvery shine. He was still trembling. The wings folded on his back looked like ivory. Shane thought he was the most beautiful boy he had ever seen in the history of ever.

He placed a hand on the side of Reed's face, the skin feeling soft and cool. "Reed…Reed please look at me." Reed raised his head, looking scared – scared of the intimacy, scared of the dangers of a relationship, scared of Shane…

"Are…are you scared of me Reed?" Shane whispered. Reed shook his head wildly, tears that had been held back finally streaming down his cheeks. "N-no! No, I'm not. Just…scared of…c-consequences. The more you do this to me, and the more trouble we'd be in if we were found out." Reed choked on a sob.

"The more I do what?" Shane's voice was quiet.

Reed breathed in deeply. "…you…I have n-never felt like this b-before, because I've always been guarded with my heart. B-because…it's a lot to explain. But, you…I don't know what you did, but I fell in love with you, and I'm just afraid of what would happen if we were found out, because…bad things."

Shane was silent. Reed's spill had left him speechless and deep in thought. He wanted to hold him close, love him with all he had, show him how much he cared…but he couldn't do that without scaring Reed…but he wasn't scared of Shane in the first place…

…so what to do?

Shane sighed and slipped an arm around Reed's waist, being careful to avoid the feathers. You had to make sacrifices for the ones you loved. He leaned down and rested his nose against the curls.

"Reed…if you're scared about these consequences, and you don't want to…continue this, I understand completely. We could, just be friends. I don't want to be forcing you into anything you don't feel comfortable with. I love you, and I want you to be happy, and if this will make you happy, I understand."

Reed froze in his arms. Shane took a deep breath. Saying that had hurt him, more than he could handle, but if Reed would rather them be apart and safe from whatever…consequences that would be in store for them, he would do it.

"S-Shane…I don't wanna have to hide us. But we have to." Reed's voice was small and plaintive. "I wanna be with you. I don't wanna leave you. I couldn't if I tried. And if I managed to...I don't know what I would do with myself." Reed turned and looked into Shane's eyes.

Shane smiled sadly. "Guess we'll have to keep keeping this a secret then, huh?" Reed bit his lip and nodded. Shane pulled Reed into a tight hug, wrapping his arms carefully so that they kept a distance from the feathers. Reed closed his eyes and rested his forehead against Shane's warm skin.

"Y-you can touch them…if you want."

Shane blinked in surprise. "Isn't that a…really big thing? For you?"

"Yes. But it's you, and I want you to be the first to touch them." _And the last, and every time in between._

Shane kissed the hairline between Reed's forehead and his curls. "I love you. More than anything and everyone I've ever known."

"I…I love you too."

Shane let his hand slowly glide up, towards the wings. Reed was shivering slightly with each second that passed. He shuddered and gasped audibly when Shane's fingers brushed the feathers, which twitched and fluttered. Shane stopped, letting Reed get used to the feeling. It felt…so…right. With Shane, everything felt right. Having someone touch your wings by choice was a massive breach – something worthy of damnation. It meant that you had been careless, unworthy of the wings you had been granted. Cast into hell, with whomever you had let them touch in the first place. But…it was Shane, and everything was irrelevant. Just bliss.

Shane whispered, "Do you want me to stop?"

"No. Keep going please." Shane's hand smoothed down the feathers carefully, and Reed could feel his breath in his curls, warm and soft. He leaned forwards and began to kiss the skin between Shane's neck and chest. "I love you…so much…" he murmured in between kisses. Shane gasped at the feeling of Reed's lips. He kept one hand on the wings, stroking them lovingly, and brought the other to Reed's face, tilting his face up and practically attacking his lips. Reed brought his hands up to cup the back of Shane's neck, bringing him closer and shoving his tongue in Shane' mouth. Shane backed up in shock and pleasure. The back of his knees hit the bed and he tumbled back, Reed falling on top of him. Shane tangled his hand in Reed's curls and kept one caressing the small on his back. Reed's hands slid down his chest, feeling the muscles developed from his craft, loving him with every inch.

"I…I wanna do it…if you want to too." Reed mumbled, shifting his weight to the side, flipping over so that Shane was on top of him.

Shane gaped at him. "You…you sure? You sure you want to? Cuz, _oh geezus Reed_, you – you said…consequences." Shane struggled to speak, what with the way Reed was sucking on his jaw.

"I…I just want to forget my fears for one night, even if it is for one night. I don't want to be scared right now." Shane felt droplets on the side of his neck, where Reed was kissing and biting, and he realized he was crying. "Don't cry, please."

"I can't stop, don't want to hold them back…please let me…" Reed began to cry desperately while lacing his fingers through Shane's charcoal curls, letting out all of the frustration, the anger, the effort, _everything_. Shane continued to kiss him, loving him with all he had, wanting to take this pain away. Reed had been struggling with this whole thing from the very beginning, and he was letting it out. Shane had no intention of making him stop, simply brushing the teardrops away with feathery kisses.

Eventually all clothes had been shed and Reed's cries grew from those of anguish to ecstasy. All this, this feeling…Reed could feel that taboo being broken, in his skin and in his chest, broken in so many ways and _so worth it_…no, it wasn't just the sex – it was Shane. Just him and Shane, a couple of bed sheets and the moonlight. _The forbidden fruit tastes the sweetest_, he thought idly as Shane kissed the vicinity over his heart. He smiled at the irony. "I love you…so much." he murmured, twirling the dark curls in his fingers, his vision hazy. The only senses that remained were touch and a bit of hearing, taste when they kissed, and none worked unless it was Shane.

Shane had admittedly been a little nervous when he slipped off Reed's boxer-briefs and it began…taking the virginity of an Angel…it was unthinkable but yet here they were doing …he moved a hand to touch the wings, which had been folded into Reed's back to keep from getting in the way. Reed cried out again at the chaste touch. Shane kissed the feathers tenderly. "I love you, I love you…never forget that." he whispered, three simple words that had been said all over the globe and yet seemed to belong to them, and them only.

They remained simply touching, memorizing ever concave and curve of each other.

Reed was shaking from the whole amazing ordeal and Shane reached down and gathered the tangled blankets, folding them around his form and Reed's. When they were all on top of them, he silently reached out and touched Reed's shoulder. "You okay?" he breathed.

Reed nodded. "J-just…_wow_." He flipped over so he was facing Shane and curled in closer. Shane reached out and wiped away the streaks on Reed's cheeks. He leaned down and kissed his forehead. "Love you, forever and always."

Reed finally looked up and met his eyes. Something was missing in them, and Shane realized it was the fear. It was strange, seeing his eyes without it, and he was sure it'd return sooner or later, but Reed never looked more beautiful to him. "I love you too." His eyelids fluttered shut. "How long…?"

Shane peered over at the digital clock on his nightstand. "two-thirty am. Three hours…jeez."

Reed nodded – Shane could feel his breath on his chest. The curls were lighting up in the moonlight and they were shining in his eyes. "Do you wanna close the curtains…'l keep the light out." Reed nodded again. Shane slipped out from the under the covers and crossed to the window, hoping that no one below would scream at his naked figure. Luckily, no one was out, and the light diminished from the room.

He looked over to his boyfriend. He could see the tips of the wings peeking out from the blankets piled on him. Reed looked so small and vulnerable right then, it was no wonder he was an Angel. He was the perfect image of one…or had been, til that night. Because a perfect Angel was straight for one matter, and they didn't have sex.

But he was Shane's Angel. And unknown to Shane, that was all Reed wanted and needed to be.

Reed looked over drowsily to Shane and smiled. "Come back, please. It's cold." And yes, he was still shivering. Shane pulled back the covers and slipped in beside him, spooning up to him and burying his nose in the curls. The wings were pressed against his chest and he sighed, fingers tracing patterns and spirals on Reed's chest. "Get some sleep. You need it."

Reed nodded wearily. He felt like he was on some kind of drug. He could feel and touch and hear everything around him, but his mind had a slow time processing it. Shane sighed and ran his fingers through the glossy curls. They remained that way until Shane heard Reed's steady, undisturbed sleep on his chest. He smiled against his hair and his senses seemed heightened. He could smell pomegranate shampoo; hear breathing; feel the blankets, Reed's wings, and his bare legs against his own. His eyes slipped shut and it wasn't long before he was asleep too. Just them, protecting themselves from the world around them.

Reed's fingers brushed the sheets lazily, his eyes flickering. He blinked and looked around. The clothes scattered haphazardly on the floor. The mussed up sheets. The clock that read 10:13am. Sunlight falling on his face. The memory of last night.

Oh, _yeah_.

Reed sat up and rubbed his eyes. Shane was nowhere to be seen, but Reed could hear pots clanging from the kitchen. He slid out of bed, flexing his wings, sore from having them pressed into his back all night. He found his boxer-briefs in the corner and slipped on one of Shane's oversized t-shirts.

Shane was trying desperately to flip a pancake on the griddle when Reed padded into the kitchen. He let a triumphant, "Aha!" when the pancake finally flipped. Reed giggled from the doorway.

Shane turned to look at him. Reed's curls were tangled and he was blushing. Shane immediately decided to make Reed wear his clothes more often, because he looked so damn adorable in the shirt. "Morning beautiful." he chuckled.

Reed grimaced. "Beautiful isn't the word I'd use right now."

"Well it's true." Reed shoved Shane lightly with his shoulder and took a long whiff of the pancakes. "Smells good."

"An old recipe of our grandmothers. She taught me and Blaine how to make it before she died." Shane slipped two warm cakes on to a plate and handed it to Reed. Reed perched on the counter and dug in. "'s really good." he mumbled between bites.

"I know right?" Shane took a huge mouthful of his and leaned against the counter beside Reed. "Hey Reed?"

"Hm?"

"Can you explain to me how these…laws and consequences work? Because I'm a little confused to be honest."

Reed put down his fork and sighed. "If your gay and you're discovered, you're damned. If you have sex and you're discovered, you're damned. Falling in love isn't forbidden if you're straight, but it is frowned upon. Because…humans die anyway."

"Are you, immortal or something?"

Reed nodded.

Shane gently stroked his cheek. He bit his lip… "Is there any way you could become human?"

Reed raised his eyes suddenly and Shane lowered his. "I'm sorry. I'm being selfish, I'm sorry – "

Reed shook his head at Shane's apologetic expression. "No! Don't be. If there was a way, I'd do it in a heartbeat. But…the only way I can is if I Fall."

"You fall all the time Reed."

Reed chuckled. "Not that kind of fall. _A_ Fall."

"Explain that please."

"A Fall is when an Angel abandons their place as an Angel. They literally Fall all the way from our Republic down, can't use your wings, otherwise it doesn't work…most don't survive. If you do it successfully, and you survive, you become human. You don't lose your wings, but you lose your immortality."

Shane nodded. "Ah." He slipped an arm around Reed's waist and pulled him into his side. Reed put his arm around Shane's shoulders. "…what about hell?"

Reed stiffened. "I don't know."

Shane looked at him confusedly. "What do you mean?"

"I don't know…you mean do gay people go to Hell?"

"Yeah."

Reed shrugged helplessly. "We don't know how you're judged if we're killed."

"So…we're just winging it and seeing what happens." Shane smiled. Reed nodded and a few tears slid down his cheeks. Shane pulled him closer at the feeling of the stain on his shirt. "Shhh…it's ok."

After a few minutes, Reed pulled away. There were tearstains on Shane's shoulder. "I'm sorry…I've been crying so much."

"Everyone needs to sometimes." Shane affectionately brushed the curls out of Reed's eyes. "What are you afraid of?"

"The unknown. Not knowing what'll happen to us."

"Better to have loved and lost then to never have loved at all. Whatever happens, I want to spend my life with you, and no one else. Whether I go to heaven or hell, or nowhere, I have now with you and I don't want to be anywhere else except here."

Reed pulled away so he could look Shane in the eyes. "I feel the same." He leaned forward and kissed Shane sweetly. "I love you…so much."

They stayed there, holding each other for a few minutes, basking in the comfort of each other. Reed closed his eyes and breathed in the smell of the Shane, feeling safe from the world there in his arms.

After a couple hours of cuddling, a movie, and kissing, Reed pulled on his coat. The bandages were rewrapped, with Shane's help. Shane gently took his upper arms and kissed him. "I love you. I never want you to forget that, Reed, no matter what happens."

Reed smiled. "I love you too."

Reed stepped out of the door into the air. Shane ruffled the back of his head. "I'll call you later, maybe…unless you want space after last night."

Reed laughed. "Don't worry about that Shane. I'll call you, how about that?"

Shane leaned forward and kissed him again. "Alright then. Love you."

"Love you too." Reed smiled one last time, and then he began to walk down the hall. Shane chuckled and closed the door.


	18. The Barman

**Disclaimer:**

**"Glee" belongs to Ryan Murphy**

**"Dalton" belongs to CP Coulter**

* * *

><p>Shane sighed as he picked up another shot glass. His eyelids were heavy, but he was determined to finish. He shoved the washcloth inside it and swiped it around. His greenish-gray eyes were drawn the final stack of glasses on his left. On his right were the cleaned glasses.<p>

It was five AM. The night had been tiring. The club closed at four, but Shane, being the "new kid", had to stay behind and clean up.

He didn't care. If he could keep this job, he'd do it.

Everything had been going so well.

And now look.

He had been dancing in a small but popular troop when the manager had died. The one to take his place had fired everyone, hoping to find "new" and "fresh dancers."

So while Shane was looking for a job that hopefully had something do to with dancing, he had taken up a job as a bartender.

At a stripper joint.

He sighed. The stack was halfway finished, and then he could go home.

His apartment wasn't big – more of a broom closet, really – but it wasn't uncomfortable. Snug would be a good word. There was no heating, but he had plenty of blankets. There was running water and a shower. He had a campout stove that he used instead of paying for an actual stove. He could afford clothes and food and basic necessities. Life was okay. And it would get better. He had promised himself that.

After another fifteen minutes, Shane finished wiping the last glass and grinned. Finally.

He grabbed his jacket and scarf. It was early December, and he could see beginning to fall lightly through the windows. He shouldered open the door that led to the back hall. The hall had a staircase that led to his boss's room, along with the rooms of the prostitutes he housed. Shane sighed and stretched. Soon, bed. Thank goodness.

At that moment there was a huge crash upstairs. "_Think you can come back with this much money? What do you take me for?" _There was another crash and Shane heard a whimper. _"Get out of my club and find your own place to sleep tonight, filthy whore!"_

One last crash before Shane heard a door slam shut. He winced. Whatever poor person was up there, good luck to them. One thing he had learned when his parents had kicked him out was that you had to think for yourself first in this world. When you were rich, then you could let your heart bleed. When you were alone and desperate, it was you or the headstone.

He pursed his lips. He hated that his mind had gone into that frame of thinking. He heard footsteps walking down the stairs and he stopped. He didn't want to run into whoever had been kicked out of the house that night, and have them ask him for a night in his broom closet.

Shane decided to wait until he heard the door close before continuing on. But it didn't come. Instead, there was another crash, and he heard someone cry out. He sighed. He was going to have to let his bleeding heart take over tonight.

He approached the foot of the staircase. "Hey, are you…?"

At that moment his eyes alighted on the figure that sat on the bottom step, rubbing their ankle.

Before the figure raised their head, he had seen shiny, strawberry blonde curls. A stylish dark brown jacket. A dark denim mini skirt. High black boots with black fishnet stockings. Then they raised their head.

The first thing Shane noticed were his eyes. His breath left him and he stared. Yes it was he. A cross-dresser, he supposed. He was small and petite, and looked much younger than his age – an innocent-like quality that reminded him a mouse, or a small bird. Ironic, seeing as the word "innocent" didn't exist in this place. The eyes were deep pools of chocolate, with swirls of caramel and gold. The nose was cute and pointed, with a few freckles sprinkled across creamy skin. He had a pinkish tinge to his cheeks. His lips were small and pink and plush. The look on his face was pained, from his ankle, and…_frightened_. That's the second big thing Shane noticed. As soon as he had heard Shane's voice, the boy's eyes had widened to saucepans. His breathing had quickened and his face was rapidly draining of the delicious blush it had advertised before.

Shane held up his hands. "Hey, I'm not going to hurt you!" The boy lowered his head, avoiding Shane's eye. Shane slowly walked over to him and knelt in front of him. "Hey." He smiled, hoping he looked friendly.

"Can I see your ankle?" he asked gently. The boy closed his eyes, and very slowly nodded. Shane smiled and gently took off the boot. His foot was dainty, the kind that Shane could imagine fitting a glass slipper on. Geez, how long has it been since he had had these thoughts? Years, probably. He didn't know how this boy had managed to captivate him like this, but he had him bad. After about thirty seconds.

He gently pressed parts of his ankle with his fingers, the boy eliciting a whimper from different parts. Shane put the boot back on when he was satisfied. "I think it's just sprained." He grinned. "I'm Shane."

The boy pursed his lips too. "Reed." he whispered faintly. His voice sounded like that of lark's to Shane. Damn these romantic thoughts that kept invading his head!

Shane cleared his throat. "I, um...heard that you need a place to stay tonight. You can stay at my place, if you want. It's probably nicer than what you have up there."

Reed scoffed. "Anything's better than what we have."

Shane shrugged. "It's not really much of a place, more like a closet really. But I've got lots of blankets. Keeps the cold out."

Reed still looked mistrustful.

Shane lifted his chin. "I know that all this sounds weird, seeing as you met me two minutes ago. But I do promise you this, because I'm guessing this is what you're worried about: I am _not _going to try and use you, or have sex with you or anything. You probably get enough of that already, and I'm not going to do that to you. I am not that kind of person, I promise. And I know it may seem hard to trust me, but you have to. Well, you don't have to, I mean if you want to you can…if you want."

Reed raised his eyes and Shane put as much honesty and caring as he could into his own, however you did that.

But whatever he did worked, because Reed nodded. "Thank you."

Shane smiled and slid a hand under Reed's knees. Reed jumped, startled, and Shane chuckled. "You don't think you're going to walk with that ankle, do you?"

Reed shrugged as another blush rose to his cheeks. "I'm used to it. I'm really klutzy. Not an attractive habit."

Shane grinned as he scooped Reed up entirely, Reed grabbing his shoulders. "I think it's kind of cute." Reed's expression turned to one of shock, but it went unnoticed.

Shane carried Reed down the 6 blocks that he lived away from the club, snow falling on them. Reed shivered and buried his head in the crook of Shane's neck, so close that Shane could feel his eyelashes fluttering and his breath on his neck. _Keep it together Anderson_.

They approached the apartment block and by the time Shane had reached the doors Reed had fallen asleep. Shane smiled at the boy in his arms. He looked so peaceful.

With plenty of difficulty, but still succeeding, he managed to get through the door and up the stairs while still keeping Reed asleep. Shane gently set Reed's legs down and reached into his pocket and pulled out his key. The door swung open.

The couch had a pullout bed that was stacked with blankets. Shane set Reed down gently on the bed and threw the blankets over him. Reed hummed with comfort and snuggled deeper. Shane couldn't resist his fingers as they traveled from Reed's temple down to his cheek, stroking it for a minute before pulling away.

Yep. He had it bad.


	19. Cake

** Disclaimer:**

**"Glee" belongs to Ryan Murphy**

**"Dalton" belongs to CP Coulter**

* * *

><p>Shane woke up to his stomach growling. At first he thought it was something in the room – memories of being scared of creatures in the closet when he was little returned – but when he realized what it was, he merely cursed it and hoped it wouldn't wake up Reed, who was sleeping in his own bed across the room.<p>

The Windsor conspirators had had a "Mega Movie Marathon" the night before. All of the boys – and Shane, who had been invited – had gathered in Blaine's room. _Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Paranormal Activity, _and the first three _Harry Potter _movies had been viewed. By the end of the night, snacks were strewn everywhere – candy bags, popcorn bowls, dishes of ice cream, and a chocolate cake with creamy chocolate icing that Kurt had made.

It was around three when the movies were done. The boys stumbled out of the room to their own dorms. Kurt had fallen asleep on Blaine during _Sorcerer's Stone_, and Shane thought it would be awkward if he slept in Blaine's room as originally planned. He figured he'd crash on the couch downstairs and was walking down the hall when a soft hand had grabbed his own.

Reed was standing in the doorway of his and Kurt's room. He was wearing a periwinkle-striped, off-shoulder shirt with thin, overlong sleeves – Shane had barely been able to keep his eyes off him during the marathon.

"You can sleep in Kurt's bed if you want. The living room can get pretty chilly." He offered. Shane had grinned and said, "I'd love too, if you're sure it's ok."

"I wouldn't have offered if it wasn't." Reed replied. Shane followed him into the room, where, in the dim light coming in through the window, he could see several paintings, some finished and some unfinished, and one of which Reed stumbled over. He remembered Reed telling him about the exhibit at Parent's Night, and noticing the bags under his eyes. He hoped Reed hadn't been stressing out too much over it.

He slid in between Kurt's sheets and watched Reed doing the same. Reed turned around and smiled faintly when he saw Shane try to cover up the fact that he had been staring. Reed got into his bed, pulled the comforter up and whispered, "Night Shane."

Shane chuckled. "Night Reed."

He fell asleep listening to Reed breathing.

And now, he was hoping Reed wouldn't wake up to Shane's stomach. He remembered coming into Windsor yesterday and seeing a quarter of the chocolate cake on the counter in the kitchen. Shane smirked, remembering Kurt's threat of death to anyone who tried to sneak a piece. Ah well, Kurt would live.

He pushed back the comforter and sat up slowly, praying that the bed wouldn't creak. When it didn't, he continued the laborious task of walking across the room noiselessly. When he had reached the door five minutes later, he sighed quietly in relief. Then he heard a whimper from across the room.

He looked over at Reed – he had an anxious expression on his face and he was shaking his head. "No..." He mumbled. Shane crossed the room, uncaring about creaky floorboards, and sat down on the edge of Reed's bed. "…leave me alone…" Reed's breathing was quickening. Shane bit his lip. Nightmares.

He put a hand over Reed's and shook it carefully. "Reed? You've got to wake up."

"…Shane…"

"I'm right here, but you've got to wake up." Shane gripped his wrists gently, willing him to open his eyes.

Reed's eyes flew open and he cried out and sat up. He bumped foreheads with Shane and jumped. "Hey, shhh, it's ok." Shane soothed, putting a hand on Reed's shivering shoulder. Reed blinked and took a huge breath, looking around the room, as if to make sure he wasn't still in his nightmare. Abruptly, he fell forward on to Shane's chest, racking huge ragged breaths. Shane instinctively curled his arms around him, rubbing circles on Reed's back and trying to impart warmth.

Five minutes later, Reed sat back. "Sorry, if I woke you up, and…about that." Even in the dim light, Shane could see his cheeks turn opaque with blush.

"Don't worry about. You didn't wake me up anyway." Shane gave him a comforting smile, but Reed wouldn't meet his eyes, instead choosing to stare at his fiddling hands. "…do you wanna talk about it? That can help."

Reed shook his head. "No…at least, not right now." He raised his head, an apologizing expression in his eyes. Shane nodded and said, "No problem. Do you need anything?"

Reed pursed his lips, thinking. "What do you do when you have nightmares? I usually just try to go back to sleep, but for some reason I don't want to do that tonight."

Shane thought – there were a lot of memories to take from. At least once a month, he'd have to same nightmare about Blaine coming out…him being beaten…Micah being tossed out the door…Reed placed a hand over Shane's, and Shane realized it had been shaking. He shook his head, clearing away the memories.

"When either Blaine or I had nightmares, we'd raid the pantry for our favorite, calorie and fat-filled snacks –" Reed grimaced – "and then we'd carry our load upstairs, put on our favorite funny movies, and watch them until we felt good enough to sleep."

Reed smiles faintly. Shane grins and continues, "I was on my way down to get a midnight snack anyway. Kurt's cake is still down there. Join me?"

"Kurt threatened torture for anyone who came close to that cake." Reed said, sounding nervous and happy. "Well, then, we'll just have to be extra quiet, won't we?" Shane raised his eyebrows invitingly.

Reed's smile returned full-on, and he said, "Alright you're on."

* * *

><p>Ten minutes later, after managing to get down the hall without waking anyone up – an amazing feat, seeing as Reed nearly tripped twice – the duo were in the kitchen. Shane was taking two mugs from out of the cabinet, one of which read, "<em>Monday: what an awful way to spend 17 of your life_" and the other reading "_I'd rather be singing_". He grabbed a can of cocoa powder tucked away and began spooning it into the mugs. "Cocoa: always cures nervousness." He quoted grandly. He turned around to the other curly haired boy. Reed was reaching up on tiptoes to get paper plates. He bit his lip, blushing furiously. Shane grinned at the blush and grabbed two effortlessly. Reed pouted slightly.

Another ten minutes later they were on the couch in the living room. Shane turned on the television and turned down the volume, low enough to let people sleep, and high enough so that the two boys sitting on the couch across from it could hear.

Shane tossed Reed an afghan, who fumbled catching it. He began to tuck it around himself until Shane sat down next to him. Reed abruptly handed the other side of the blanket towards him. Shane looked mildly surprised but nonetheless pleased.

Soon they were sitting close together, spooning chocolate cake into their mouths and watching _The Little Mermaid. _Shane had thought about a scary movie next, but seeing as the whole reason they were down there was because Reed had had a nightmare. They didn't talk much, simply basking in the comfortable presence of the other.

About two-thirds of the way through, Shane feels a pressure on his shoulder and sees that Reed has fallen asleep. Shane grins wildly – this is one of the best feelings, like, ever. He puts his plate on the side a rests his head on Reed's. Reed shifts beneath him. "Is this ok?" Shane asked, peering down at him.

Reed nodded faintly. "It's fine." he murmured. "More than fine." he muttered quietly under his breath, hoping Shane wouldn't notice. Of course Shane did. His eyebrows shot up towards his hairline and he grinned. He also saw Reed's blush when he felt Shane's grin against his curls. The brown eyes slipped shut again and he felt Reed sleeping. He chuckled slightly and closed his eyes too, feeling sleep take over.

They were found the next morning by Kurt, going down to get himself a cup of coffee. He smiled tenderly at the couple, before removing the cake plates and pulling the blanket a little further around them. Reed sighed in his sleep and snuggled closer to Shane. Besides him and Blaine – of course – he'd never seen a cuter couple.


	20. Colors

**Disclaimer:**

**"Glee" belongs to Ryan Murphy**

**"Dalton" belongs to CP Coulter**

* * *

><p>Reed was drifting in a world of colors.<p>

It was rather pretty, he thought absently.

He wished he could capture the colors, use them for his paints.

Non-flammable paints, he hoped.

What had happened again?

Oh yeah.

Getting knocked out and gagged by a psychopath.

Going in and out of consciousness, bleeding from his head.

Who was that guy again?

Adam, the shy Hanover.

Not so shy, are you now?

The building was on fire, wasn't it?

Adam was threatening Julian, right?

And Julian had said he loved Logan.

Well that was a shocker.

Then Adam was knocked out.

And they'd all been running for the fire escape.

And the last closet had exploded.

That color was nice right there.

It reminded him of Shane's eyes.

Shane.

He remembered hearing him scream his name outside.

It must be so hard, he thought.

Two people you love could possibly die.

Reed didn't know he could handle it.

The colors were disappearing, giving way to grayish haze and red flames.

Kurt was standing over him, screaming, though Reed couldn't hear a thing.

Everything was horribly hazy.

He just wanted to go back to sleep.

Then he remembered Shane scream.

Listening to Shane's voice as they'd sang.

Shane's soft lips on his own as they'd kissed earlier.

"…_he just loves you more."_

_Stay alive for Shane._

_Get back to Shane._

Sound was returning, the crackling of the fire, and Kurt's screams.

Julian was leaning over him too. Reed grabbed on to him shakily, eyes wider.

Logan and Julian supported him down the hall towards the fire escape, while Blaine and Kurt helped each other.

_Just think of Shane._

He was complacent with the other boys as they worked out a plan.

And before he knew it, they were outside.

Fireman were rushing around in slow motion.

Reed smiled dazedly as one of them took him.

He was safe now, right?

So that meant he could go back to sleep, right?

As they loaded him on to a stretcher and rolled it towards an ambulance he looked around confusedly.

There were fire trucks and ambulances everywhere.

He saw the twins, Wes, Charlie, Justin, and Micah breathing through masks and being patched up.

He didn't see Dwight anywhere.

Julian and Logan were being led towards the minor medical care area.

Blaine was shut into an ambulance and driven away.

Kurt's father ran beside his gurney, holding his hand.

Where was Shane?

Not there.

Reed sighed painfully and let his head fall back, welcoming the world of colors again.

* * *

><p>Shane was huddled outside the Art Hall, which was being hosed down.<p>

He watched desperately for golden red curls.

Blaine and Micah were okay.

Blaine had already been sent to the hospital, but he'd told Shane to stay and wait for Reed.

Micah was a little farther away, breathing through an oxygen mask.

There was no sign of Reed anywhere.

Another sob rose up in his throat.

What if Reed had…

Today, out of all days?

The day they'd shared their first kiss.

Shane couldn't get the feeling of Reed on his shoulder out of his head.

Everywhere he looked, he saw Reed.

In the flowers that grew in the windowsill of the Main Hall.

In the stars that were visible through the smoke.

He sobbed wretchedly.

This wasn't fair.

He looked around once more.

And then he saw it.

Blood-matted strawberry blonde curls, with burnt skin, being rolled towards an ambulance.

He was unable to move for a second.

Then he sprinted like mad.

"_Reed!"_

He reached the stretcher.

Reed's eyes opened sleepily and he smiled when he saw Shane.

Shane clutched his hand.

"Hey, hey, you're gonna be okay? Okay? I've got you. I'm right here."

Reed nodded slowly.

Then, before they placed an oxygen mask on his face –

"I love you Shane."

He'd never said it before.

Shane's eyes widened.

"R-really?"

Reed nodded shakily.

He reached up and felt around his neck.

He managed to get a thin chain out and Shane pulled the rest of it out for him.

He was unable to speak as tears welled up in his eyes.

It was the Rembrandt ring Shane had given him.

It seemed like years ago.

"Oh Reed…"

"Take it."

Shane looked from the ring to Reed's face.

"It's yours."

"J-just in case."

"No! No, don't say that, you'll be fine!"

Reed shrugged lightly.

The ambulance doors closed and the paramedic on his other side began shooting an IV into his arm.

He reached up and tugged the chain off, setting in Shane's lap.

Reed's eyelids fluttered.

"Gonna sleep now."

Shane looked to the paramedic, alarmed, but he only nodded and pointed to the IV.

Shane nodded shakily and rubbed Reed's hand.

"Yeah, you sleep. I'll be here when you wake up, okay?"

Reed smiled widely before the waves of color overtook him and he slipped into unconsciousness.

* * *

><p>Shane was sitting in Blaine and Kurt's room with the Hummel's and his mother.<p>

Burt and Carole were talking quietly with Kurt, who'd only broken his leg and suffered minor burns.

Blaine was speaking with their mother, about his father visiting later.

He looked over and saw Shane fiddling with his hands, pale and silent.

He reached over with his good arm and squeezed Shane's shaking hands.

"He'll be okay."

Shane merely nodded.

Everyone had been telling him that.

But how did they know?

In his fist he held the necklace, unable to look at it.

Reed was still in surgery.

He'd suffered a concussion, but the main worry was blood loss.

Shane, who was O-, had gladly given his blood.

Reed had enough now, but how his body would handle it was yet to be seen.

And there were still burns to treat.

All in all, it was a mess.

At that moment, Clark Sawyer appeared in the room.

"Shane?"

Shane looked up, eyes wide and fearful.

Clark gave a small smile.

"The donation went fine. Reed's out of surgery and resting."

Everyone in the room cheered and Shane jumped to his feet, a grin gracing his face.

"Can we see him?"

Clark sighed and rolled his eyes.

"No, his mom doesn't want us to yet."

"That bi-!"

"Shane! Language!"

Clark shrugged.

"Well she doesn't really know you, and she practically hates me, and the hospital has to abide by family first rules."

But then he smiled again.

"But I'm pretty sure he'll want to see us more than her."

Shane nodded again and let out a relieved laugh.

He followed Clark down the hall to Reed's room and they peered through the window in the door.

Reed was sleeping.

He looked like an angel, despite the blood still adorning his curls and the bandages wrapped around his head and arms.

He was smiling.

His mother looked up from where she was sitting beside him, talking on her phone.

Shane scowled.

"She shouldn't qualify as a mother."

Clark nodded in agreement.

They ducked out of sight when she began to walk towards the door, a stern expression on her face.

They watched her walk down the hall, still talking on her phone.

Shane peered back in the room.

Reed was awake, a gentle smile gracing his face.

Shane darted in, rushing to his side.

"Oh god Reed…"

He squeezed Reed's hand with one of his and used the other one to cup his face gently.

Reed smiled tearfully and leaned into the hand.

"Hi Shane."

Clark walked beside them as Shane peppered Reed's face with kisses.

"How're you doing Reed?"

Reed shrugged.

"Sore. Tired. But okay."

Shane sighed and moved the hand on Reed's face down to their clasped ones.

"I'm so sorry this happened to you!" he blurted out, feeling ready to cry again.

Man he was weak.

Since Parent's Night began, he'd been crying.

Reed squeezed his hand gently.

"It's not your fault Shane."

"But – but – this shouldn't have happened to you! You don't deserve this!"

Reed blinked tiredly.

"No one deserves this Shane. But it's over now. And we're all okay."

At the other boy's silence, Reed frowned.

"Shane? Clark? What happened?"

Shane winced, not sure how to tell Reed.

Reed squeezed Shane's hand tightly.

"Tell me."

Shane closed his eyes.

"Dwight…he-he was crushed by part of the ceiling. H-he didn't make it through the night."

Reed was silent for a second.

Then tears began rolling down his face.

A sob rose up in his throat.

Clark and Shane shared a look and Clark went out into the hall, closing the door behind him.

Shane climbed on to the bed beside Reed, putting a careful arm around him and clutching his hand.

Reed sobbed into Shane's jacket as Shane rubbed his arm gently, whispering comforting things.

When Reed had finished, Shane leaned down to his ear.

"He died a hero. He figured out this whole shenanigans and he saved everyone. And he'll be remembered with respect and reverence. Just like he wanted."

Reed nodded, still crying somewhat.

He cried himself to sleep right there on Shane's chest in a few minutes.

Well , there was nothing he could do now.

Moving would mean Reed waking up, and Shane didn't want to disturb hm.

So he lay his head back on the bed and fell asleep too, feeling Reed on his chest and a feeling of familiarity running through him.

**AN: Yeah, I killed Dwight, sorry. Here's a cookie for your grief (::)**


	21. Hospital

"No! Reed! Blaine, please!"

Shane struggled against his mother's grasp, tears pouring down his face as he stared down the burning building. He could practically hear Reed screaming, Blaine trying to help Kurt, and Micah, dear Micah, trying to save them.

He fell to the ground brokenly, retching against the grass. His mother knelt down beside him, rubbing his back and sobbing. Shane rocked back and forth, muttering. "Please, not Blaine, not Reed, not my Reed, not now…"

And then they heard yelling. Happy cries.

Shane looked up through tear-blurred eyes. He gasped when he saw a flash of blonde hair, being helped out by Charlie. Logan. Next came Julian, pretty battered too, helped by Justin.

And then…Wes came out, helping Blaine.

Shane cried out and ran to Blaine, breaking through the crowd. He gasped when he saw the stab wound in Blaine's shoulder. "Oh my god Blaine-!"

"Shane! No hug! Not yet, little bro!" Blaine laughed tiredly as he observed his brother by loving eyes. They turned back to the fire to see Ethan and Evan carrying Kurt out between the two of them. Kurt smiled at Blaine and was then greeted by the paramedics and his father.

"Shane!"

Shane turned around and nearly collapsed with relief when he saw Micah emerging from the smoke. He was coughing and choking, his glasses were missing – and he was carrying a small, limp figure.

The Shane reached him before the medics did. Micah handed the figure to him. "Take care of him, get him to the ambulance." And then he was led away by the medics.

Shane looked down at the boy he loved. Reed was unconscious, a huge gash in his head that had coated his hair, face, and neck with scarlet blood. He cried out, tears falling on to the blood and making trails. "No, please, not my Reed, not my Reed…" He buried his face in the crook of Reed's neck, sobbing.

And then – "S-shane?"

Shane looked up in shock. Reed was gazing at him through half-lidded eyes, with a glimmer of a smile on his face. Shane choked on a sob and grinned, brushing Reed's hair. "Reed? Hey, you're gonna be okay. We're going to get you to a hospital, and you're gonna be okay. I'm right here with you. I'm not going to leave you, I promise."

Reed reached up and faintly clasped his hand around Shane's. "I know…I-I love you."

Shane didn't have time to reply before Reed passed out against his shoulder and the paramedics came and swept him away.

—-

Shane sat by Reed's bed, holding his hand tightly. The only sign of life from the angelic boy was the continuous rise and fall of his chest and the beeps from the heart monitor. Multiple bandages were wrapped around his arms and chest, from burns. His head was bandaged now, and Shane stroked the back of his hand quietly. He hadn't said a word since Reed had come out of surgery. He had nothing else to worry about. Blaine was sleeping. Micah was being watched over. All that was left was beautiful, caring Reed.

When they had dragged a conscious Adam out of the wreckage, Shane had lunged for him, yelling bloody murder. Adam had merely rolled his eyes and smirked. It was mostly Reed he was yelling for. Poor, innocent Reed, who had simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

"How could you! He didn't do anything to you, he meant nothing to you! He is the most fucking important thing in my life, how could you do that to anyone!"

"Shane?"

Shane looked up to see Micah standing in the doorway. He had a crappy pair of glasses on his and his hair was mussed up. Various bruises and burns decorated his skin. He smiled gently and sat down beside Shane. "How is he?"

Shane shrugged, staring at Reed's lifeless hand. "Barely stable. The doctors are talking about keeping him here for a few weeks because he lost so much blood." His breath hitched for a second, but he regained composure and turned to look Micah in the eye. "You saved him."

Micah nodded. "I suppose."

Shane let go of Reed's hand for the first time in ten hours to give his savoir a hug. Tears threatened to leak out of his eye as he buried his face in Micah's shoulder. "Thank you. Thank you. You didn't have to, but you did. If it weren't for you…he wouldn't be here right now."

Micah merely smiled and hugged back.

—-

Marlene stared at the papers. This wasn't a decision she was sure she'd be willing to make. "After what just happened, what reasons do I have to let him transfer?" she asked Blaine incredulously. "I'm not even sure I want you here anymore."

Kurt smiled softly and looked down the hall. "Mrs. Anderson, can we show you something?"

Blaine grinned and nodded. Marlene sighed and followed the couple down the hall. They stopped at one of the open doors and Blaine stepped aside for her. "Take a look."

Marlene gave him a doubtful look and peered inside the room.

The sunlight was filtering in through a window, shining down on her youngest son and another boy. Shane was sitting very close to the bed, clutching the hands of the occupant, a smaller cherub-like boy with tawny eyes and golden-red curls. The curls were somewhat matted down by heavy bandages and dried blood, and his face was covered in small burns, but Shane was looking at him as if he was his whole world. The two were talking in hushed voices, as if afraid to break the fragile bubble surrounding them.

Marlene turned to Blaine who nodded encouragingly. "Mom, what were the names that Shane was calling when we were inside?"

Marlene winced at the memory. "You, erm, that boy Micah – " She had already run into Micah earlier, " – and…"

She looked back in the room, where Shane was kissing the mystery boy's hands. "…Reed."

She looked back at her eldest son. "Is that Reed?"

Blaine chuckled and nodded. Kurt smiled. "He's my roommate. Shane met him at the WinterFest back in December." He smirked. "I've never seen anyone fall so fast. Except for you of course." he nodded towards Blaine, who waved his good arm. "Nothing beats the Andersons."

Marlene watched them and then looked back over at the two. She was surprised to meet greenish-gray eyes and the chocolate-brown ones staring back at her, the former in surprise, the latter in fear.

"Mom?" Shane asked warily, squeezing Reed's hands. Reed looked down at his lap, feeling the color drain from his face. Marlene took a deep breath and stepped into the room. "Hello darling." She nodded towards Reed. "…is there something you'd like to tell me?"

Shane took a visible gulp. "…Mom, this is Reed. Reed Van Kamp. He's, uh…he's one of Blaine's classmates and…" Shane took a quiet breath and looked his mother in the eye. "and I love him."

Reed blushed furiously and chanced a glance at Mrs. Anderson. He relaxed when he saw her features – calm and gentle, with a knowing smile. She walked towards Reed and held out a dainty hand. "It's very nice to meet you Reed."

Reed seemed startled at this, but recovered and shook her hand. "It's nice to meet you too, Mrs. Anderson."

Marlene smiled gently. "I only wish we could've met under better circumstances." Reed winced but continued to smile.

She turned to Shane. "So, Blaine tells me that this is the reason you want to transfer." Shane looked down and flushed for a second, but then looked up again quickly. "Yeah, he is."

Marlene sighed. "Well, I don't know what we're going to do about your father. But I can tell you that, once I feel that this school is safe again," she gave a doubtful look, but then smiled again. "I have no objections."

Shane laughed and leaned forward to give his mother a huge hug. Then he turned to Reed, who was grinning widely, and cupped his face, kissing him happily. Reed's eyes widened at first, and then he closed them and melted into it.

Marlene raised her eyebrows and turned back to Blaine, who was snickering with Kurt at the door. He motioned for his mother to leave. Marlene quickly did so, but she stole a glance at her youngest son, who was laughing with the boy he loved. She smiled at the two and closed the door.

Shane didn't take his eyes off the angel. Reed was smiling happily, tears brimming at the corner of his eyes. Shane wiped away the tears, smiling in overjoyment.

Blaine was safe. Micah was safe.

His Reed was safe.

The world had never been better.


	22. It Gets Better

**Disclaimer:**

**"Glee" belongs to Ryan Murphy**

**"Dalton" belongs to CP Coulter  
><strong>

**So I saw a "It Gets Better" commercial on TV, and I thought of this. This is based off of Chasing Cars.**

* * *

><p>"Hey everyone, my name's Shane Awesomesauce Anderson, and I'm here to tell that -!" Shane grinned, "-it does get better!"<p>

Blaine rolled his eyes from where he was holding the camera. "_Awesomesauce…pssh_."

Shane pulled his legs up criss-cross style on the couch. "So, as you can probably tell from the fact that I'm making one of these videos, I'm…pretty darn gay. I've never been interested in anyone other than guys." Shane snorted. "My older brother, who's recording this - !" Shane pointed to Blaine, "Say hello Blaine! Well, it turned out that he was gay too, and we were both pretty relieved that we had someone else that we could confide in.

"Well, over time, we found three other friends like us, Jude, Erin, and Micah. We all went to high school together; Erin, Micah, and Blaine were sophomores, and Jude and I were freshmen. Those years were… some of the worst and yet best years of our lives. Basically, everyone but me was out, but I got secondhand harassment. They'd shove us in closets, beat us up behind the gym, and all of the little things that get to you…mean notes, some threats. But, we had each other. And that kept us going." Shane lowered his head, a serious expression on his face. "And then one day, they took it too far.

"Jude…well, they got him, to say the least. He was found in a back alley, and he died on the way to the hospital. Everyone thought it was a mugging, but…the rest of us knew." A small shiny tear dripped down Shane's face. "They got too close for Erin's comfort. She had a girlfriend, from another school, and someone sent them photos of them kissing, but…they were torn up, had red paint dripped on them, and on the back of each photo, was…" Shane swallowed, "_We're going to get you._

"And that was it for them. They took off. They're fine now, we hear from them, but…" Shane shook his head sadly, "it's not the same.

"Also, during this whole time, Micah and I were dating." Shane allowed a small smile. "It was a happy period of my life. Micah was…kind, quiet, kind of my opposite. We balanced each other out. But…we were really careless. One day, he was at our house after school. We were kissing on the couch, and…I heard my dad open the door.

"I'm sure that a lot of you have homophobic parents, and our parents were no different. But…Blaine and I dated girls just to put on a show for our dad. He was the worst – like, once a week, during dinner, he would on some mindless rage about how wrong and disgusting gays were, how they were going to burn in hell, and stuff like that – and it made us sick."

"Well, I disappeared before dad walked in, and Blaine was coming down the stairs at that moment. Dad saw, and he blew up. I was hiding in the kitchen, and Blaine told Dad that Micah was his boyfriend. Dad…Dad beat the shit out him. He tossed Micah out of the house and when it was all over, Blaine was bleeding and I was crying. We didn't hear from Micah for over a year. He's okay too, we've seen him, don't worry, but…" Shane sighed.

"Well, pressure at school _and _at home was too much for my brother and he found a private school far away from home – Dalton Academy in Westerville, Ohio. He made a video too about what happened to him there, you can find it here – " Shane pointed to a random spot in the air, where they planned to put a link to Blaine's video. "-but, in general, things got a lot better for him.

"As for me, I couldn't stand being at home either. I found a school for the arts out near Denver, and I jumped ship."

Shane grinned again, finally. "Things went pretty uphill from them. I met lots of friends and I felt my life coming back together. And then, the winter after we transferred, I went with my parents to see my brother's Christmas choir concert, and…" Shane closed his eyes, smiling dreamily. "…I fell in love."

Shane grinned. "His name's Reed, and he was going to school with Blaine. Now bare with me as I prattle on for a bit. He's got the most beautiful eyes, and the most adorable smile, and whenever I see them, my day just gets better – he's got a charming laugh, and he's just so perfect -!"

"Shane. Camera."

"Right. Well, since I am me, I didn't hide the fact that I was in love with him. I think I scared him. But, he grew to trust me and, I had never been happier. And then…"

"Well, he got – beaten up. Because someone thought he was gay." Shane's voice cracked. "A-and, when Blaine called me about it…I don't even remember what really happened, I was so worried. I flew over from Colorado as soon as I could. I took care of Reed while I was there, and then…he told me he loved me." Shane's voice took on a tone of wonder and he smiled again. "He loved me, and that day was the best day of my life.

"I took him out on a date that night, to a local restaurant. And while we were walking towards the place…we got…cornered. By a bunch of druggies. They…" Shane seemed to have trouble speaking. He dropped his head into his hands and sighed. "I'm sorry…it's just that…when I remember what happened that night…

"Well, they put a knife to Reed's throat. And…I couldn't do anything about it. They tossed us down with the garbage and they…well, we both thought they were going to kill us…"

Shane had to stop for a moment and put his head in his hands. "Sorry, just…gimme a minute."

It was about twenty seconds before Shane raised his head. "Sorry, it just…gets to me.

"Well, it turned out okay, because some friends of Blaine's boyfriend came out of the restaurant and heard us. They came back and started beating them up. Reed…saved my life. One of them was ready to stab me, and Reed knocked him out with his crutches."

Shane shrugged. "They were pressed with charges and sent to jail. We haven't seen anything of homophobia around here, Dalton's a pretty safe place. I transferred here last year, and…it's been great.

"I haven't come out to my dad yet." Shane looked mildly uncomfortable. "I'm getting there, but with a dad like him, it's…hard."

Shane shrugged and smiled. He looked off to the side. "C'mon!"

A new voice appeared to the right of the camera. "I don't want to!"

Shane rolled his eyes and got up moving out of the shot. "Shane, what are you – no, no! Put. Me. Down!"

Shane reappeared, holding a smaller, squirming boy with tousled red curls and big brown eyes. He pouted as he unwillingly sat down beside Shane. Shane ignored this and slung an arm around him. "This is Reed, the wonderful adorable boyfriend of mine that I mentioned earlier! Say hi!"

Reed rolled his eyes. "Hello." he stated, smiling kindly at the camera.

"So, ladies and gentlemen, this is Shane Anderson and his boyfriend Reed, here to tell you that – "

Shane nudged Reed, who sighed and chorused with Shane – "It does get better!"


	23. Nymph

**Disclaimer:**

**"Glee" belongs to Ryan Murphy**

**"Dalton" belongs to CP Coulter**

* * *

><p>Reed bit his lip as he listened to the yells from down in the courtyard below the tree was hiding up in. He had arranged himself so that he couldn't fall out like he had done so many times before. He was leaning against on the tallest branches on the tree, legs dangling down, hidden behind the foliage. There was a window in the leaves in front of the branch, giving him a good view of the curly-haired boy down in the courtyard, playing with a sword. Reed shivered, the vines around his body curling in and out. He brushed a golden leaf out of his eyes and focused again on the figure. He didn't like swords, but what with the wars that humans were always getting themselves into, he guessed it was a useful skill to have.<p>

The boy heaved a breath and leaned his sword against the small brick wall that surrounded part of the garden. His instructor sighed and complimented him, telling him what he did wrong and what he did right. The boy nodded, grinning as the instructor walked away. Then he heaved off the body armor he was wearing and set it on the wall.

Then he ran over to the tree diagonal to Reed's tree, climbing up it with ease. He plopped down on one of the thicker branches and leaned against it, closing his eyes.

Like he had done every day for the past month, Reed crept across the branch carefully, jumping to the tree. The branch shook slightly as he settled on it, leaning his head against his hands, watching the sleeping prince.

His name was Shane, Reed had found out. The black curls fell in his eyes as he slept. Reed watched carefully. He didn't know what it was that drew him towards the human.

Perhaps it was the fact that this was the human that had rescued him from the hunter's net a month ago.

* * *

><p><em>Reed cried out as the net snapped up below him. He shot into the air, hopelessly tangled in the mesh. His limbs stuck in and out of woven rope and he whimpered as he saw how high he was from the ground.<em>

_How could he have been so stupid? He'd been taught from birth not to run around the forest so carelessly. Watch out for nets, for traps, and keep away from anything remotely suspicious. And now look at what had happened._

_Reed reached up through the net with lithe fingers to try and untangle the knot that tied him to the tree. No use, it was too tight. Reed felt tears falling down his face and he wiped them away. Nothing ever came of crying._

_But that didn't stop the sobs from rising in his throat._

* * *

><p><em>Shane crept quietly through the undergrowth, knife in hand. It was his day to find the creatures that the nets had caught during the night. He had a rabbit and two squirrels hanging from his belt, and he was looking forward to dinner that night.<em>

_He peered out into a small clearing, where a large oak tree stood. He pulled out his map and peered at it. There should be a net besides the tree hidden under the leaves. He looked up, seeing no sign of rope. He was about to grin with the prospect of another meal when he heard a muffled sob._

_Shane straightened up, keeping quiet on light feet as he made his way carefully to the trunk of the tree. Cries continued to erupt from up in the tree and he wondered if the net had caught a playing child of some sort. He frowned as he made his way up the trunk._

_He quietly heaved himself up on the branch that he thought was across from the net and said, "Excuse me?"_

_There was a shriek and Shane almost fell out. He could see the figure in the net scrambling around, getting even more tangled. "Hey, watch yourself. Don't get hurt." he said, finally managing to peek out._

_His eyes widened at the sight of the huge, honey-brown eyes. The creamy skin, the vines that snaked around his body. The autumn leaves were caught in his hair, shimmering gold and maroon. Smooth legs drawn up to hide his near nakedness from the prince. Reddish curls that shone in the sunlight. A rosy blush. Jaw trembling with fright. Small, pointed ears. A wood nymph._

_And without a doubt, the most beautiful creature Shane had ever seen. "Oh." he said, ever so softly._

_The two continued to stare for another moment before Shane snapped back to reality. No doubt that if his father were to find out about this nymph, he'd keep it captive, like a pet._

_There was no way Shane was going to put this boy through that._

_He reached out. "It's okay, I'm not going to hurt you. It's alright." He continued to soothe him until his fingers had managed to untie the knot somewhat. The nymph wasn't moving, but he could feel those hypnotic eyes on him, watching his every move._

_"Okay," he said slowly. "I'm going to lower you to the ground slowly. Alright?" The nymph nodded slowly. Shane straddled the branch and clung to the rope as he lowered the net to the ground. As soon as he felt it hit the forest floor, the rope was yanked out of his hands by the nymph's frantic struggles to escape. He dropped down out of the tree, and ran the net. The nymph was hopelessly entangled in the mesh, whimpering as the rope bit into his delicate skin. Shane put a hand out on his shoulder and pushed him against the ground; he didn't want to do it, but he had to if he had any hope of getting this creature out unharmed. The nymph cried out at the sudden force. "No, don't, it's okay, I promise!" Shane said quickly, eyes widening. The nymph continued to squirm, until Shane whispered. "Please trust me."_

_The nymph's eyes widened ever so slightly, and he stopped, chest rising up and down with each frantic breath. Shane retracted his hand slowly. "Don't move, or you're get even more tangled, okay?" The nymph nodded. Shane started to cut the rope slowly, hoping the nymph wouldn't run as soon as he was free._

_Luckily he didn't. When Shane finally unwrapped the last bit of rope from the nymph's shoulder, he sat up shakily, breathing ragged and quiet. Shane fell back on his knees and smiled softly. "Are you okay?" The nymph looked up at him and nodded. Shane smiled wider and sighed, standing up. He held out his hand for the nymph to take. The nymph merely gazed at him, questioning._

_"C'mon," Shane pressed. "I'm not going to hurt you."_

_The nymph pursed his lips and tentatively took Shane's hand. Shane's breath almost stopped at the softness of the warm skin, as if this was what sunlight felt like. He helped the nymph up on to his feet. He teetered for a moment and Shane instinctively reached out and grabbed his other hand. He felt the nymph's breath hitch at the touch, so when he was steady again, Shane let go of that hand._

_At the same moment, Shane unfurled his palm, letting it rest against the nymph's. He seemed to have finally calmed down, staring at their hands in awe. He looked up at Shane, and Shane promptly lost himself in the depth of those eyes._

_It was like that for a few more moments until they heard hounds barking._

_The nymph pulled away alarmed. Shane shooed him. "Go, quick, before they arrive!"_

_The nymph seemed to struggle with something for a second before he did something Shane most certainly did not expect._

_He reached up, pulled Shane's shoulders down, and kissed him._

_It only lasted a few seconds, but to Shane it felt like a million years, floating in the beyond. Soft lips and skin, and the mixed taste of nectar and dewdrops. One hand on his neck, a few fingers entwined in the curls, the other on his shoulder. The nymph pulled away, expression grateful. "Thank you." he whispered. "I won't ever forget this."_

_And then he was gone, scampering up a tree._

_Shane stood there for a good five minutes, fingers tracing his lips and eyes zoned out, replaying those seconds over and over again._

* * *

><p>Reed honestly didn't know why he had done it. He pondered it every time he sat there on that branch, watching the young Prince sleep.<p>

Because this human had been kind and gentle and sweet, unlike the others Reed and his kind had encountered? Because he hadn't demanded anything in return? Because he was a handsome boy and Reed was feeling rushed and felt as though he needed to give something back?

He sighed. He really didn't know. All he knew was that he couldn't stop thinking about Shane.

The sigh seemed to startle Shane in his sleep. Reed's eyes widened and he climbed the tree quickly, before he was seen.

Shane wiped the sleep from his eyes, shivering despite the sunlight. It felt as though he was being watched. He peered around, but found no one. He sighed. It was shame to be interrupted from the dream. The one with the nymph, in a meadow, with sweet kisses and tender words…oh well. He'd dream it again tonight. He always did. He could wait.

So he slipped down from the tree like always, picked up his stuff, and walked back to the castle.

From up in the tree, the nymph watched, like he always did.


	24. Runaway

**Disclaimer:  
><strong>

**"Glee" belongs to Ryan Murphy**

**"Dalton" belongs to CP Coulter  
><strong>

**AN: Reed is a runaway in this drabble ^.^**

* * *

><p>Reed struggled to keep his eyes open in the darkness. The alley was cold and wet, and he was huddled near a dumpster. He pulled his hood up over his head and drew his knees up to his chest. A few tears rolled down his cheek mixing in with the falling rain. He sniffled and sneezed.<p>

_Can't fall asleep Reed_, he urged himself. _You might not wake up_.

But the darkness was growing on the outskirts of Reed's vision. His breathing quickened to keep up with his heart, which he could hear beating in his ears. A pain was growing in his chest. His head lolled back. _I don't care anymore_.

With that last thought, his eyes drifted shut.

* * *

><p>Shane shoved his hands in his pockets as he walked quickly along the dark sidewalk, dance bag slung over his shoulder. With his bike in the repair shop, he had to walk home in the pouring rain. Not that he didn't like the rain - he just didn't like it when he was in it.<p>

Shane felt the rain seep through his jacket and he shivered. He smiled at the thought of dry clothing and his warm bed in the room that he and Blaine shared.

Suddenly, he heard a sneeze coming from his right. Shane knitted his brow together and stopped. There were buildings on his right with closed doors and windows, so where had the sneeze come from?

He looked back, where he could see the opening to a small alleyway. He frowned and jogged towards the spot. He stepped into the alley, his eyes scanning the darkness. Some trash bags, a dumpster…wait, was that a person?

Shane strode forward towards the figure and knelt down. It was a boy, who looked to be his age, or younger. Dark reddish-blonde curls framed his face. He looked like an angel to Shane. His lips were blue, and his skin was paper-white, eyelids closed gently. He reached a hand out and gently touched the boy's face. He didn't respond. Shane frantically moved his fingers to the boy's throat. He found the pulse point and he relaxed slightly when he felt a feeble heartbeat.

Shane pursed his lips, a few tears coming to his eyes as he drank in the vulnerable figure. Finally, he reached and scooped the boy up in his arms. He fell limply against Shane's chest. Shane didn't noticed the boy's eyes flicker open for a second at the feel of a warm body, but they slid shut again.

Shane quickly strode out of the alley. The boy was very light, almost too light for someone his age. Shane felt as though he could break if he wasn't careful enough.

In his frantic state, Shane reached his home within a few minutes. He shared it now with his mother and Blaine - his father had moved out after finding out both of his sons were gay. He kicked the door in a frenzy until his mother answered. "Shane, what in the world - ?"

Marlene stopped at the sight of the limp boy and held the door open. Shane hurried inside and shoved open the door to his and Blaine's room. Blaine looked up and gaped at Shane. Shane set the boy gently on his bed. Marlene followed and felt the boy's pulse. "Oh my...Shane, get me some extra blankets."

Shane nodded obediently and began to leave the room, sparing one last look at the now shivering boy. His heart went out to him, and he hoped desperately he would live.

* * *

><p>It was three sleepless days and nights until they were sure that the redheaded boy would live. Shane stared down at the body that was snuggled under his blankets. The boy's lips were now a healthy pale pink, and his skin was a bit rosier. His chest rose and fell evenly, unlike the past few days where he was in a restless, murmuring sleep. Shane, Marlene, and Blaine had kept a constant vigil at his side, making sure he didn't slip away from them.<p>

Shane reached down and stroked some of the curls back from the boy's face. His skin was warm. Shane smiled.

The boy stirred and mumbled something. One eye slowly blinked open. Shane sat down on the edge of the bed. "Hey, wake up…"

Both eyes opened now and Shane was faced with what he thought was the most beautiful person he had ever seen in his entire life. His eyes were chocolatey, with deep swirls of golden caramel. The boy looked at him curiously. "…wha? What happened?"

His voice was chiming, like a small silver bell's. Shane smiled. "How much do you remember?"

"The a-alley, and…nothing a-after that."

That was a lie. He could remember the feeling of Shane's body against his own, and his voice coaxing him out of his restless sleep. The first voice that had sounded as though it actually cared about him.

"I found you. You've spent the last three days unconscious. You had a deadly case of hypothermia, but my mom and I took care of you." Shane grinned. "She says you should rest for at least one more day."

"O-okay. Who are - ?"

"My name's Shane!"

"I-I'm Reed."

Reed. It fell easily off of Shane's tongue, smooth and sweet. _Jeez stalker, slow down_, he chided himself. _He woke up only a minute ago_.

"Where am I?"

Shane snapped back to reality. "Oh, my house. Well I guess you know, cuz, you know, where else would you be?" Shane looked down in shame at his running mouth.

A giggle erupted out of Reed and Shane glanced up. Reed was smiling and his cheeks were rosy.

"You could stay with us!" Shane blurted out.

"What?"

"Stay with me and family. By the looks of where we found you – " Shane pursed his lips, wondering if he should go any further. " – it doesn't look like you have anywhere to go."

Reed flinched, the memories of the past month flooding into him. Wandering the highways, meager meals, barely keeping it together. Shane noticed the flinch and attempted to backtrack. "Sorry, that was really insensitive. I seriously don't ever think, ever. It's always _talk, talk, talk_, before _think, think, think_."

Reed felt himself relax at Shane's blabbering. "It's okay. And yeah, I really don't have anywhere to go." His eyes flickered around the tiny room, hoping to find something to distract himself.

There were two beds in the room, one of which he was in. There was a dresser and a small couch, along with a mini-refrigerator. The carpet was a deep blue oriental, which flowed nicely with the blankets and cushions. There were curtains hung across the edge of bed, to give the occupant some privacy if needed. It was very comforting.

Shane smiled gently. "I'll ask my mom. In the meantime, I think you should get some sleep."

Reed yawned at this statement, and Shane laughed. He reached out and ruffled Reed's curls. "Yeah, go to sleep. I don't have anything to do right now, so I'll stay here."

Reed nodded. "Okay…" He snuggled down under the sheets and closed his eyes, smiling as Shane pulled the blankets back up. He felt a couple of fingers brush his cheeks and he opened his eyes. Shane had settled himself in a chair in the corner, a book in his lap. He looked up and caught Reed's eye, smiling comfortingly. And for the first time, Reed felt cared for as he slipped away into his dreams.


End file.
